A sigmatropic reaction in organic chemistry is a pericyclic reaction. A sigmatropic reaction does not use a catalyst and involves a single molecule (an uncatalyzed intramolecular process). It changes one σ-bond into a different σ-bond. The name sigmatropic is the result of a compounding of the long-established "sigma" name for single carbon-carbon bonds and the Greek word tropos, meaning turn.  This is a rearrangement reaction which means that the bonds in a molecule shift between atoms without any atoms leaving or new atoms added to the molecule. In a sigmatropic reaction, a substituent moves from one part of a π-bonded system to another part in an intramolecular reaction with simultaneous rearrangement of the π system. True sigmatropic reactions usually do not need a catalyst. Some sigmatropic reactions are catalyzed by a Lewis acid.  Sigmatropic reactions often have transition-metal catalysts that form intermediates in analogous reactions.  The most well-known of the sigmatropic rearrangements are the [3,3] Cope rearrangement, Claisen rearrangement, Carroll rearrangement and the Fischer indole synthesis.

Overview of Sigmatropic Shifts

Woodward-Hoffman Sigmatropic Shift Nomenclature
A special notation is used to describe sigmatropic shifts.  Each of the carbon atoms on the backbone of the molecule are assigned a position number.  Sigmatropic rearrangements are described by an order term [i,j]. This means the migration of a σ-bond adjacent to one or more π systems to a new position (i-1) and (j-1) atoms removed from the original location of the σ-bond.  When the sum of i and j is an even number, this is an indication of the involvement of a neutral, all C atom chain. An odd number suggests that there is a charged C atom or of a heteroatom lone pair replacing a carbon-carbon double bond. Thus, [1,5] and [3,3] shifts become [1,4] and [2,3] shifts with heteroatoms, while preserving symmetry considerations.  Hydrogens are omitted in the third example for clarity.

Here is a way to find the order of a given sigmatropic rearrangement. The first step is to give numbers to each atom starting with the atoms of the bond being broken as atom 1. Chemists count the atoms in each direction from the broken bond to the atoms that form the new σ-bond in the product.  The numbers that correspond to the atoms forming the new bond are then separated by a comma and placed within brackets. This creates the sigmatropic reaction order descriptor.

Chemists also count atoms when naming a sigmatropic shift where a hydrogen atom moves.  The carbon chain does not break in a hydrogen atom migration. So, chemists count across all atoms involved in the reaction rather than only across the closest atoms.  For example, the following hydrogen atom migration is of order [1,5], attained by counting counterclockwise through the π system, rather than the [1,3] order through the ring CH2 group that would mistakenly result if counted clockwise.

Suprafacial and Antarafacial Shifts

Chemists have studied sigmatropic reactions where the migrating group has a sterocenter. In principle, all sigmatropic shifts can occur with either the same (retention) or the opposite (inversion) geometry of the migrating group.  This depends on whether the original bonding lobe of the migrating atom or its other lobe is used to form the new bond.

In cases of stereochemical retention, the migrating group translates without rotation into the bonding position. In the case of stereochemical inversion the migrating group both rotates and translates to reach its bonded conformation.

There is another way that a sigmatropic reaction can produce products with different sterochemistry. The migrating group can stay on the original face of the π system after rebonding. Or, it can go to the opposite face of the π system.  If the migrating group remains on the same face of the π system, the shift is known as suprafacial. If the migrating group transfers to the opposite face is called an antarafacial shift. Transformations that occur within small- or medium-sized rings cannot make antarafacial shifts.

Classes of Sigmatropic Rearrangements

[1,3] Shifts

Thermal Hydride Shifts
In a thermal [1,3] hydride shift, a hydride moves three atoms.  The Woodward-Hoffmann rules dictate that it would proceed in an antarafacial shift.  Although such a shift is symmetry allowed, the Mobius topology required in the transition state prohibits such a shift. It is geometrically impossible. This is why enols do not isomerize without an acid or base catalyst.

Thermal Alkyl Shifts
Thermal alkyl [1,3] shifts, similar to [1,3] hydride shifts, must proceed antarafacially.  The geometry of the transition state is prohibitive. But an alkyl group, due to the nature of its orbitals, can invert its geometry and form a new bond with the back lobe of its sp3 orbital. This reaction will result a suprafacial shift. These reactions are still not common in open chain systems because of the highly ordered nature of the transition state. So, the reactions work better in cyclic molecules.

Photochemical [1,3] Shifts
Photochemical [1,3] shifts should be suprafacial shifts; however, most are non-concerted because they proceed through a triplet state (that is, they have a diradical mechanism, to which the Woodward-Hoffmann rules do not apply).

[1,5] Shifts
A [1,5] shift involves the shift of 1 substituent (-H, -R or -Ar) down 5 atoms of a π system.  Hydrogen has been shown to shift in both cyclic and open chain systems at temperatures at or above 200 ˚C. These reactions are predicted to proceed suprafacially, by a Huckel-topology transition state.

Photoirradiation would require an antarafacial shift of hydrogen. Although such reactions are rare, there are examples where antarafacial shifts are favored:

In contrast to hydrogen [1,5] shifts, there have never been any observed [1,5] alky shifts in an open-chain system. Chemists have determined rate preferences for [1,5] alkyl shifts in cyclic systems:  carbonyl and carboxyl> hydride> phenyl and vinyl>> alkyl.

Alkyl groups undergo [1,5] shifts very poorly and usually require high temperatures. However, for cyclohexadienes, the temperature for alkyl shifts is not much higher than that for carbonyls, the best migratory group. A study showed that this is because alkyl shifts on cyclohexadienes proceed through a different mechanism.  First the ring opens, followed by a [1,7] shift, and then the ring reforms electrocyclically:

This same mechanistic process is seen below, without the final electrocyclic ring-closing reaction, in the interconversion of lumisterol to vitamin D2.

[1,7] Shifts
[1,7] sigmatropic shifts are predicted by the Woodward-Hoffmann rules to proceed in an antarafacial fashion, by a Mobius topology transition state. An antarafacial [1,7] shift is observed in the conversion of lumisterol to vitamin D2, where following an electrocyclic ring opening to previtamin D2, a methyl hydrogen shifts.

Bicyclic nonatrienes also undergo [1,7] shifts in a so called walk rearrangement, which is the shift of divalent group, as part of a three-membered ring, in a bicyclic molecule.

[3,3] Shifts

[3,3] sigmatropic shifts are well studied sigmatropic rearrangements. The Woodward-Hoffman rules predict that these six electron reactions would proceed suprafacially, using a Huckel topology transition state.

Claisen Rearrangement
Discovered in 1912 by Rainer Ludwig Claisen, the Claisen rearrangement is the first recorded example of a [3,3]-sigmatropic rearrangement. This rearrangement is a useful carbon-carbon bond-forming reaction. An example of Claisen rearrangement is the [3,3] rearrangement of an allyl vinyl ether, which upon heating yields a γ,δ-unsaturated carbonyl.  The formation of a carbonyl group makes this reaction, unlike other sigmatropic rearrangements, inherently irreversible.

Aromatic Claisen rearrangement
The ortho-Claisen rearrangement involves the [3,3] shift of an allyl phenyl ether to an intermediate which quickly tautomerizes to an ortho-substituted phenol.

When both the ortho positions on the benzene ring are blocked, a second ortho-Claisen rearrangement will occur. This para-Claisen rearrangement ends with the tautomerization to a tri-substituted phenol.

Cope Rearrangement
The Cope rearrangement is an extensively studied organic reaction involving the [3,3] sigmatropic rearrangement of 1,5-dienes. It was developed by Arthur C. Cope. For example 3,4-dimethyl-1,5-hexadiene heated to 300 °C yields 2,6-octadiene.

Oxy-Cope rearrangement
The Oxy-Cope rearrangement a hydroxyl group is added at C3 forming an enal or enone after Keto-enol tautomerism of the intermediate enol:

Carroll Rearrangement
The Carroll rearrangement is a rearrangement reaction in organic chemistry and involves the transformation of a β-keto allyl ester into a α-allyl-β-ketocarboxylic acid. This organic reaction can be followed by decarboxylation and the final product is a γ,δ-allylketone. The Carroll rearrangement is an adaptation of the Claisen rearrangement and effectively a decarboxylative allylation.

Fischer Indole Synthesis
The Fischer indole synthesis is a chemical reaction that produces the aromatic heterocycle indole from a (substituted) phenylhydrazine and an aldehyde or ketone under acidic conditions. The reaction was discovered in 1883 by Hermann Emil Fischer.

The choice of acid catalyst is very important.  Successful acid catalysts include: Bronsted acids such as HCl, H2SO4, polyphosphoric acid and p-toluenesulfonic acid. Lewis acids such as boron trifluoride, zinc chloride, iron chloride, and aluminium chloride are also useful catalysts.

Several reviews have been published.

[5,5] Shifts
Similar to [3,3] shifts, the Woodward-Hoffman rules predict that [5,5] sigmatropic shifts would proceed suprafacially, Huckel topology transition state.  These reactions are rarer than [3,3] sigmatropic shifts, but this is mainly a function of the fact that molecules that can undergo [5,5] shifts are rarer than molecules that can undergo [3,3] shifts.

Walk Rearrangements
The migration of a divalent group, such as O, S, NR or CR2, which is part of a three-membered ring in a bicyclic molecule, is commonly referred to as a walk rearrangement.  This can be formally characterized according to the Woodward-Hofmann rules as being a (1, n) sigmatropic shift. An example of such a rearrangement is the shift of substituents on tropilidenes (1,3,5-cycloheptatrienes). When heated, the pi-system goes through an electrocyclic ring closing to form bicycle[4,1,0]heptadiene (norcaradiene). Thereafter follows a [1,5] alkyl shift and an electrocyclic ring opening.

Proceeding through a [1,5] shift, the walk rearrangement of norcaradienes is expected to proceed suprafacially with a retention of stereochemistry. Experimental observations, however, show that the 1,5-shifts of norcaradienes proceed antarafacially. Theoretical calculations found the [1,5] shift to be a diradical process, but without involving any diradical minima on the potential energy surface.

Related pages
2,3-sigmatropic rearrangement
NIH shift
Frontier Molecular Orbital Theory
Woodward–Hoffmann rules

References

Rearrangement reactions

Sigmatropic reaction


Ilya Haimovich Grubert (, ; born 13 May 1954 in Riga) is a Dutch classical violinist and a professor.

Biography
Ilya Grubert began his violin studies at the Emīls Dārziņš Music School. He later studied at the Moscow Central Music School and the Moscow Conservatory with Yuri Yankelevich, Zinaida Gilels, and Leonid Kogan. He is a multiple prizewinner of prestigious violin competitions. Earning his first international success by receiving 2nd prize at the Sibelius Competition in 1975, he subsequently won 1st prizes in both Paganini Competition in 1977, and Tchaikovsky Competition in 1978.

Since then Grubert has had a distinguished career and performed with orchestras such as the Moscow Philharmonic, St. Petersburg Philharmonic, the Russian State Orchestra, Dresden Staatskapelle, Rotterdam Philharmonic, and the Netherlands Philharmonic. He has worked with conductors such as Mariss Jansons, Gennady Rozhdestvensky, Voldemar Nelson, Mark Wigglesworth, and Maxim Shostakovich.

Now Grubert lives in the Netherlands and is a professor at the Amsterdam Conservatory and at the University of Minho.

External links
 Ilya Grubert's official website (archieved)

1954 births
Living people
Soviet classical violinists
Academic staff of the Conservatorium van Amsterdam
Paganini Competition prize-winners
Soviet emigrants to the Netherlands
Musicians from Riga
Academic staff of the University of Minho
21st-century classical violinists
Moscow Conservatory alumni

Ilya Grubert


The Daily Record is an American daily newspaper published in Ellensburg, Washington. The Record is published four days a week with an afternoon edition each Tuesday through Thursday and a weekend edition is delivered on Saturday mornings. It has a circulation of 2,619.

History
This newspaper is a successor to the Kittitas County Localizer, first published on July 12, 1883. After the official founding of the town of Ellensburg, that paper became the Ellensburg Localizer. On July 1, 1909, the paper, now under the ownership of William S. Zimmerman and J.C. "Cliff" Kaynor, changed its name to the Evening Record. It is from this event that the modern edition of the newspaper marks its birth. Kaynor bought Zimmerman's share in 1912 and continued as the paper's sole publisher for nearly fifty years. The paper's name was changed to The Ellensburg Daily Record on April 23, 1938, and on March 14, 1973, the paper became simply The Daily Record to reflect its expanded focus on all of Kittitas County, Washington.

In August 1992, the newspaper was sold to McClatchy Newspapers Inc. In 1996, it was sold again to Pioneer News Group. The paper's Saturday edition was moved from afternoon to morning publication in October 1999. In October 2017, Pioneer News Group Co. announced that it was selling its media division assets, including the Daily Record, to the Adams Publishing Group.

References

External links

Newspapers established in 1883
Newspapers established in 1909
Newspapers published in Washington (state)
Kittitas County, Washington
Daily newspapers published in the United States

Daily Record (Washington)


Helena May Weiss (February 6, 1909 – January 21, 2004) was an American museum administrator and registrar. She was one of the first women managers at the Smithsonian Institution and was involved in the acquisition of the Hope Diamond and the Wright Flyer.

Personal life and education

Helena May Weiss was born in 1909 into a German-American family and raised in Shipman, Illinois, the daughter of postal worker Gerald Bisset Weiss and his first wife, Mary Julia Henrietta Brueggemann (1881-1915). Her grandfather Henry Maurice Henwick Weiss (1828–1915) was born in County Cork, Ireland, to a father born in England and an Irish mother. He married in 1850 in Grangegorman, when his was listed occupation was listed as "gentleman" but reinvented himself as a farmer in Illinois, where in 1858 he married secondly Eliza Travers, born in England to Irish parents.  After he emigrated from Ireland, Henry M. H. Weiss fought with the 27th Illinois Infantry Regiment in the Civil War as a Lieutenant 2nd Class, recognized for Distinguished Service.

Helena May Weiss's maternal grandparents, the Brüggemanns, were German emigrants. After her mother died in 1915, Gerald Weiess remarried a German emigrant, Freda Brüggemann, apparently his wife's widowed sister-in-law, who helped raise Helena. Weiss graduated from Butter Business College in Butler, Pennsylvania and Wheeler Business College in Birmingham, Alabama. Weiss was an active member of the New York Avenue Presbyterian Church, serving as elder, diaconal minister, and on a women's committee. When she died in 2004, she left the church $515,000.

Professional life
Weiss' first job, in 1930, was as a stenographer for the Veterans Administration. The following year she became the Junior Clerk-Stenographer for the Office of Correspondence and Records at the United States National Museum. In 1935 she moved to the geology department where she worked as secretary to Ray S. Bassler. She moved back to the Office of Correspondence and Records in 1948 as an administrative assistant. On occasion she stood in for Smithsonian secretary Alexander Wetmore's administrative assistant. In 1956 she replaced Herbert S. Bryant as head of the department, serving as registrar. As registrar, she maintained the museums central filing system, handled public inquiries, oversaw the mail system, and other standard registrar tasks. Weiss processed more than 250,000 letters a year from the public.

Acquisitions
Weiss was involved in the acquisition of the Wright Flyer, the Hope Diamond, and other major Smithsonian pieces. She retired from that position in 1971.  In 1956 she helped acquire one of the first x-ray tubes used by Wilhelm Röntgen.

References

External links
"The Fount of All Knowledge." The Milwaukee Journal. July 26, 1955.
Oral history interviews with Helena M. Weiss from the Smithsonian Institution Archives Oral History Collection

1909 births
2004 deaths
American people of German descent
American people of Irish descent
Smithsonian Institution people
American Presbyterians
People from Macoupin County, Illinois
Museum administrators
20th-century American women

Helena M. Weiss


Evidence packaging involves the specialized packaging methods and materials used for physical evidence. Items need to be collected at a crime scene or a fire scene, forwarded to a laboratory for forensic analysis, put in secure storage, and used in a courtroom, all while maintaining the chain of custody. Items might include DNA, drugs, hair samples, body parts, blood samples, sperm, knives, vomit, firearms, bullets, fire accelerants, computers, checkbooks, etc.

Each police or fire jurisdiction has its own policies and procedures for evidence collection and handling. Legal requirements for admissible evidence to a court also vary from region to region. Many commonalities do exist.

Physical containment and protection
Packaging should be the proper size, type, and material for the item. Many items are suited to a clean paper bag sealed with a security tape. Many jurisdictions desire one item per container, but situations do vary. Clean zipper storage bags are also used: special security bags or "evidence bags" have built-in security and tamper-indicating features.

Knives are best suited to packing in corrugated boxes so the blade does not cut the package or people. Empty firearms are often attached to a corrugated box by cable ties.

Salvage drums are available in various sizes to contain potentially hazardous liquids.

When detection of fire accelerants is needed for evidence from a fire investigation, the package must be a vapor barrier. Sometimes a glass jar such as a mason jar is used. Heat sealable nylon plastic bags have also been shown to be effective.

Contamination
Control is needed to prevent contamination of the evidence: investigators to the evidence, scene to scene, evidence to evidence, etc.

Dangerous evidence
Particular care is needed when packaging material classified as dangerous goods (Hazardous materials) and with items possibly qualifying as hazardous waste or biomedical waste. This might include: drugs, explosives, loaded firearms, ammunition, etiologic agents, flammables, radioactives, etc.

Local specialists often transport items to a local laboratory for analysis or to an approved storage facility. When items are shipped (particularly by common carrier), strict regulations govern the construction, preparation, and labeling of shipping containers.

Identification
Individual packs and collections of items in a larger container need to be labeled: description, source, preliminary comments, special handling needs, etc.

Chain of custody labels with authenticated signatures are often required. Gaps in documented custody make submission to a court more difficult.

Security
The physical security of packaged items is critical. The items cannot be damaged or degraded in transit or storage. The risk of theft, pilferage, tampering, adulteration, etc. must be tightly controlled.

Packaging is not to be considered as "tamper proof"; it is only one component of an evidence management system. No one security feature can be considered as "tamper proof". Most security products can be foiled by a knowledgeable person with sufficient time and with access to specialized tools, solvents, extreme temperatures, other security bags, other security tapes, etc.

See also
Fire investigation
Criminal investigation
Forensic firearm examination
DNA collection
Bindle

References

 Rosette, J L, "Improving Tamper-Evident Packaging: Problems, Tests and Solutions", 1992
 Yam, K.L., "Encyclopedia of Packaging Technology", John Wiley & Sons, 2009,

External links

Forensic techniques
Law enforcement techniques
Packaging

Evidence packaging


The Pacific-Union Club is a social club located at 1000 California Street in San Francisco, California, at the top of Nob Hill. It is considered to be the most elite club of the West Coast, and one of the most elite clubs in the United States, along with the Knickerbocker Club in New York, the Metropolitan Club in Washington D.C., and the Somerset Club in Boston.

It was founded in 1889, as a merger of two earlier clubs: the Pacific Club (founded 1852) and the Union Club (founded 1854).
The clubhouse was built as the home for silver magnate James Clair Flood. The former Flood Mansion is located in the Nob Hill neighborhood. It was designed by Willis Polk. It is considered the first brownstone constructed west of the Mississippi River. Along with the Fairmont Hotel across the street, it was the only structure in the area to survive the San Francisco earthquake and fire of 1906.

The club figured prominently in the history of the west coast of the United States.

Prominent members

Many notable citizens have been Pacific-Union Club members, including:

 John Barneson, founder of General Petroleum Corporation, General Pipe Line Company
 Riley P. Bechtel, CEO, Bechtel Corporation
 Stephen Bechtel Jr., former CEO, Bechtel Corporation
 Warren A. Bechtel, founder of Bechtel Corporation
 Benjamin Biaggini, former president and CEO, Southern Pacific Railroad
 William Lane Booker, British diplomat
 Benjamin Dillingham
 William Henry Draper III, businessman
 Paul B. Fay Jr., (deceased) former Undersecretary of the Navy and PT squadron mate  of John F. Kennedy
 Tirey L. Ford, former California Attorney General
 Henry F. Grady, first US Ambassador to India; Dean of the Commerce Department at the University of California, Berkeley; President of American President Lines
 Walter A. Haas Jr., CEO (1958–1976) and chairman (1970–1981) of Levi Strauss & Co
 Randolph Apperson Hearst
 William Randolph Hearst Jr.
 William Randolph Hearst III
 William Redington Hewlett, co-founder of Hewlett-Packard
 Henry J. Kaiser, engineer and founder of Kaiser Family Foundation
 William S. Mailliard
 Robert McNamara, former U.S. Secretary of Defense
 David Packard, co-founder of Hewlett-Packard and former U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense
 R. A. F. Penrose Jr., prominent geologist
 Donald J. Russell, former president, Southern Pacific Railroad
 Charles R. Schwab, founder of Charles Schwab Corporation
 Caspar Weinberger, former U.S. Secretary of Defense
 Plácido Vega y Daza, former General and Governor of the Mexican state Sinaloa. He descended directly from Christopher Columbus' great-great grandson, the Admiral and 3rd Duke of Veragua. General Vega y Daza also became a vice-president of the Pacific Union Club of San Francisco

Pacific Union Club Punch
Pacific Union Club Punch is a drink named after the Pacific-Union Club in William "Cocktail" Boothby's 1908 work The World's Drinks And How To Mix Them with the recipe:
For a party of ten. Into a large punch-bowl place ten tablespoonfuls of bar sugar and ten tablespoonfuls of freshly squeezed lime or lemon juice. Add two jiggers of Curaçao and dissolve the whole in about a quart of effervescent water. Add two quarts of champagne and one bottle of good cognac. Stir thoroughly, ice, decorate and serve in thin glassware.

See also
 List of American gentlemen's clubs

References

Clubs and societies in California
Gentlemen's clubs in California
Buildings and structures in San Francisco
Clubhouses in California
Culture of San Francisco
Landmarks in San Francisco
Nob Hill, San Francisco
Organizations based in San Francisco
Organizations established in 1889
1889 establishments in California
Neoclassical architecture in California

Pacific-Union Club


Alexandra Michel Orlando (born January 19, 1987) is a retired Canadian rhythmic gymnast. She represented Canada at the 2008 Olympic Games, the Commonwealth Games and Pan American Games.

Biography
Orlando was born in Toronto, Ontario and attended Havergal College.  She trained at the Ritmika RG Club under Mimi Masleva, a native of Bulgaria.

Orlando won every rhythmic gymnastics event at the Canadian National Championships in 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, and 2007. Orlando swept the individual event finals at the Elite Canada rhythmic gymnastics competition in 2007 and also won the all around crown. At the world championships in September, she finished ninth in the all-around competition and qualified for the Olympic Games in Beijing. She however only placed 18th in Beijing.

She won all six rhythmic gymnastics events included as part of the gymnastics program at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne. She joined Graham Smith (1978, Edmonton), Susie O'Neill (1998, Kuala Lumpur) and Ian Thorpe (2002, Manchester) as the only competitors to win six gold medals at a single Commonwealth Games.

Orlando currently studies commerce at the University of Toronto. She is the subject of the book Alexandra Orlando: In Pursuit Of Victory (Toronto: BookLand Press, 2006) by Martin Avery.

Orlando is of Italian descent; her father is Sicilian and mother from Salerno. She stated in an interview, "I went last summer for vacations for two weeks. I have many Italian relatives, my family is from the South. My mother is from Salerno, and my father is Sicilian. They all live there still, just my family lives in Canada."

References

External links

1987 births
Canadian sportspeople of Italian descent
Canadian rhythmic gymnasts
Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Canada
Gymnasts at the 2006 Commonwealth Games
Gymnasts at the 2003 Pan American Games
Gymnasts at the 2007 Pan American Games
Gymnasts at the 2008 Summer Olympics
Living people
Olympic gymnasts for Canada
Gymnasts from Toronto
Pan American Games gold medalists for Canada
Pan American Games silver medalists for Canada
Pan American Games bronze medalists for Canada
Commonwealth Games medallists in gymnastics
Pan American Games medalists in gymnastics
Havergal College alumni
Medalists at the 2003 Pan American Games
Medalists at the 2007 Pan American Games
20th-century Canadian women
21st-century Canadian women
Medallists at the 2006 Commonwealth Games

Alexandra Orlando


Delfín Quishpe (born December 4, 1977 in Guamote, Ecuador) is an Ecuadorean singer. Delfín Quishpe sings a kind of music called "Andean techno-folklore". His music can be found easily on YouTube.

Biography
Delfín was born in a small town named San Antonio in Guamote in Ecuador. During his early years in school, he began performing in front of his classmates and teachers.

Later on, he started working his voice and exploiting his artistic skills. Delfín entered different bands and attended dancing classes. He participated in many singing contests, showing himself and his judges that singing was his greatest passion. Delfin's boom came in 1997.

Music career

Discography
In 1999, he began singing. Two years later, he created his first album named El Faraón del Ritmo. It became very famous, and many radio stations broadcasted Delfín's songs.
In 2003, he recorded his second album El Gallito. It contained songs such as: "El Gallito Bandido", "El Delfincito", "Cuando me vaya", and "Cuaya huay". A year later he created his first video, the same that was posted on the Internet, giving Delfín global fame.

"Torres Gemelas"
In 2006, Quishpe released the song "Torres Gemelas". The song deals with the tragedy of the terrorist attack of 9/11 by relating the loss of a loved one in what many saw as a whimsical and kitschy nature, making the video an internet meme.

Concert

Guayaquil
On February 15, 2007, Delfín performed for the first time in Guayaquil. During the concert, as usual, he was wearing white clothing with his name printed on it. The most awaited song was his controversial "Torres Gemelas", whose video has gained popularity via the Internet.
Quishpe sang other songs such as "Rosas Rojas" and "La Media Naranaja".

Other websites
Official website
9/11 video

1977 births
Living people
Ecuadorian singers
Ecuadorian writers

Delfín Quishpe


Ezio Manzini is an Italian design academic and author known for his work on design for social innovation and sustainability. He is Honorary Professor at Politecnico di Milano, Chair Professor at University of the Arts London, and presently Distinguished Professor on Design for Social Innovation at ELISAVA, and guest professor at Tongji University and Jiangnan University. Manzini is the founder of DESIS, an international network on design for social innovation and sustainability.

Career

Ezio Manzini studied at the Politecnico di Milano where he later joined the faculty. During his time at the school, Manzini worked on several international research projects including co-ordinating the Unit of Research DIS (Design and Innovation for Sustainability), the Doctorate in Design, and DES (Design dei Servizi) in the Centre for Service Design.

Manzini is an author on sustainable design. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s his research focussed on the design of materials and strategic design. He wrote on topics such as scenario building toward solutions that encompass environmental and social quality; innovative processes in the system of production and consumption; and the relationship between product strategies and environmental policies from the perspective of sustainable development. Though he is perhaps most well known for his work on design for social innovation. In the 2015 book, Design, When Everybody Designs, Manzini provides an overview of the way design has been deployed in the social innovation space to guide transition to more sustainable practices. The book explores the role of diffuse and expert design, it describes the concept of cosmopolitan localism, and Manzini's Small, Open, Local, and Connected (SLOC) scenario.

In 2009 Manzini founded DESIS, an international network of design schools and related organisations working on initiatives and projects in the design for social innovation and sustainability fields.

In addition to his time at Politecnico, Manzini was the Director of Design and Vice-president of the Domus Academy in the 1990s, and Chair Professor of Design under the Distinguished Scholars Scheme at Hong Kong Polytechnic University in 2000.

He has received honorary titles at several universities including Honorary Doctoral of Arts at Aalto University, Honorary Doctor of Fine Arts at The New School and Goldsmiths, University of London; Honorary Professor at the Glasgow School of Art; and Fellow at the Australian Centre for Science, Innovation and Society at the University of Melbourne.

Awards

 Compasso d'Oro, 1987, 2016
 Premio per l'innovazione (Ministero dell'Innovazione Italiano), 2010
 Sir Misha Black Award, 2012

Books

 The Material of Invention, The MIT Press, 1986
 Artifacts: Towards a New Ecology of the Artificial Environment, Domus Academy, 1990
 Solid Side: The Search for Consistency in a Changing World (with Marco Susani), V+K Publishing, 1995
 Sustainable Everyday: Scenarios of Urban Life (with François Jégou), Edizioni Ambiente, 2003
 Spark! Design and Locality (with Jan Verwijnen, Hanna Karkku, and John Thackara), University of Art and Design Helsinki, 2004
 Collaborative Services: Social Innovation and Design for Sustainability (with François Jégou), POLI.design, 2008
 Design for Environmental Sustainability (with Carlo Vezzoli), Springer, 2008
 Design, When Everybody Designs: An Introduction to Design for Social Innovation, The MIT Press, 2015
 Politics of the Everyday, Bloomsbury, 2019

References

External links

 DESIS Network

Italian designers
Year of birth missing (living people)
Living people

Ezio Manzini


Gasparo Alberti (also: Gaspar de Albertis; Gaspare Albertus; Gaspar bergomensis; Gaspar de padua; c. 1485 – c. 1560) was an Italian composer.

He was born in Padua, and worked through the ranks at the basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, in Bergamo, starting as a cleric in 1503, he becoming choir master in 1508 and magister cappellae by 1525. He was forced to retire in 1550, but was reappointed and worked there until 1559. Alberti was one of the first composers to use a number of new techniques, including the use of cori spezzati and salmi spezzati, especially within the Passion, where he used it for both the turba  and the words of Jesus, or vox Christi. Alberti's Passions were the first to set Jesus' words polyphonically. Although he was an early user of these techniques, he is not believed to have originated them or disseminated them significantly. Despite this, he was an important force in Italian sacred music, especially in the period before Palestrina. His book of masses was the first to be published by a single Italian composer. Alberti's works were rediscovered by Danish musicologist Knud Jeppesen in the 1960s.

References

Notes

1480s births
1560s deaths
Italian classical composers
Italian male classical composers
Musicians from Padua
Renaissance composers
16th-century Italian musicians

Gasparo Alberti


Raimundo Díaz Pacheco  (1906 - October 30, 1950) was a political activist and the Treasurer General of the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party. He was also commander-in-chief of the Cadets of the Republic, the official youth organization within the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party. This quasi-military organization was also known as the Ejército Libertador de Puerto Rico (The Liberation Army of Puerto Rico).

On October 30, 1950, a series of revolts occurred in scattered locations in Puerto Rico in opposition to U.S. colonial rule. These were known as the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party revolts. On that day of October 30, Díaz Pacheco led an armed attack on La Fortaleza, the residence of the Governor of Puerto Rico in San Juan, with the intent to assassinate Governor Luis Muñoz Marín. Díaz Pacheco was shot dead in the unsuccessful attempt.

Early years
Díaz Pacheco was born in the barrio of Carraízo in the municipality of Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico, where he received his primary and secondary education. Díaz Pacheco and his five siblings were believers in the cause of Puerto Rican independence and, in 1924, joined the Nationalist Party of Puerto Rico.

1924 was also the year that Dr. Pedro Albizu Campos joined the party and was named vice-president. By 1930, there were disagreements between José Coll y Cuchí, founder of the Nationalist Party, and Albizu Campos as to how the party should be run. Coll y Cuchi and his followers abandoned the party and on May 11, 1930, Albizu Campos was elected president.

Under Albizu Campos's leadership during the years of the Great Depression, the party became the largest independence movement in Puerto Rico. However, by the mid-1930s, after disappointing electoral results and strong repression by the territorial police authorities, Albizu Campos opted against electoral participation and advocated direct, violent revolution.

Cadets of the Republic
In the 1920s, there was a non-political student organization in the University of Puerto Rico called Patriotas Jovenes (Young Patriots). By the 1930s, the members of this organization were influenced by the teachings of Albizu Campos. They adopted the Nationalist Party's independence ideals, and dismissed any student who would not swear allegiance to them. The organization was renamed Cadetes de la Republica (Cadets of the Republic) and Joaquin Rodriguez, a Nationalist, was placed in charge.

Díaz Pacheco and his brother Faustino were active members of the cadets. The organization became the official youth branch of the Nationalist Party. In accordance with the beliefs of Albizu Campos, organization and discipline were considered the keys to victory, in the struggle for Puerto Rico's independence. Cadets were required to wear a uniform of white pants and gloves, and everything else - the shirt, tie, belt, boots, military cap - was black. Officers wore a white jacket over the black shirt and tie, and a white officer's cap.

The cadets were divided into companies, each of which represented a different town in Puerto Rico. They were all required to participate in local and national acts, such as the celebration of José de Diego's birthday. All of the cadets received military training which included marching, field tactics, self-defense and survival.

Ponce massacre
On April 3, 1936, a Federal Grand Jury submitted accusations against Pedro Albizu Campos, Juan Antonio Corretjer, Luis F. Velázquez, Clemente Soto Vélez, Erasmo Velázquez, Julio H. Velázquez, Rafael Ortiz Pacheco, Juan Gallardo Santiago, and Pablo Rosado Ortiz. They were charged with sedition and other violations of Title 18 of the United States Code. Title 18 of the United States Code is the criminal and penal code of the federal government of the United States. It deals with federal crimes and criminal procedure.

On March 21, 1937, a Palm Sunday, the cadets were to participate in a peaceful march scheduled in the city of Ponce. The march had been organized by the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party to commemorate the ending of slavery in Puerto Rico by the governing Spanish National Assembly in 1873. The march was also protesting the imprisonment, by the U.S. government, of Nationalist leader Albizu Campos on alleged sedition charges. Díaz Pacheco, who by then was the Comandante (Commander) of the Cadets of the Republic, and his brother Faustino were present when this peaceful march turned into the bloody police slaughter, which became known as the Ponce massacre.

Several days before the scheduled Palm Sunday march, the organizers received legal permits for a peaceful protest from José Tormos Diego, the mayor of Ponce. However, upon learning of the planned protest, the colonial governor of Puerto Rico General Blanton Winship, who had been appointed by US president Franklin D. Roosevelt, demanded the immediate withdrawal of the permits.

Without notice to the organizers, or any opportunity to appeal, or any time to arrange an alternate venue, the permits were abruptly withdrawn just before the protest was scheduled to begin.

As La Borinqueña, Puerto Rico's national song, was being played, the demonstrators - which included the cadets, led by Tomás López de Victoria, the Captain of the Ponce branch and the women's branch of the Nationalist Party known as the Hijas de la Libertad (Daughters of Freedom) - began to march. Empowered by the North American police chief, and encouraged by the governor, the police fired for over 15 minutes from four different positions. They fired with impunity on the cadets and bystanders alike - killing men, women and children.

The flag-bearer of the cadets was shot and killed during the massacre. A young girl by the name of Carmen Fernández proceeded to take the flag, but was shot and gravely injured. A young cadet by the name of Bolívar Márquez, despite being mortally wounded, dragged himself to a wall and wrote with his blood the following message before he succumbed to his wounds:
Nineteen people were killed, and about 235 were wounded. The dead included 17 men, one woman, and a seven-year-old girl. Some of the dead were demonstrators, while others were simply passers-by. Many were chased by the police and shot or clubbed at the entrance of their houses as they tried to escape. Others were taken from their hiding places and killed. Leopold Tormes, a member of the Puerto Rico legislature, told reporters how a policeman murdered a nationalist with his bare hands. Dr. José N. Gándara, one of the physicians who assisted the wounded, testified that wounded people running away were shot, and that many were again wounded by the clubs and bare fists of the police. No arms were found in the hands of the civilians wounded, nor on the dead ones. About 150 of the demonstrators were arrested immediately afterward; they were later released on bail.

On June 7, 1937, Albizu Campos and the other leaders of the Nationalist Party were transferred to the Federal Penitentiary in Atlanta, by order of federal judge Robert A. Cooper. The next day, Díaz Pacheco participated in an assassination attempt on Judge Cooper, in retaliation for Cooper's rigging the jury with ten North Americans and only two Puerto Ricans, and for sentencing the Nationalist leadership to long prison terms. Díaz Pacheco together with nine other Nationalists were arrested and accused of attempting against the life of Judge Cooper. U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt became involved when on October 22, 1937, he signed Executive Order Number 7731 designating Martin Travieso, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico, to perform and discharge the duties of Judge of the District Court of the United States for Puerto Rico in the trial against the Nationalists. Thereby, permitting judge Cooper to serve as a Government witness. Díaz Pacheco and his comrades were found guilty of the charges against them and were imprisoned.

Puerto Rico's Gag Law (Law 53)
After Díaz Pacheco was released from prison, he resumed his role as Commander of the Cadets. Unbeknownst to him, his brother Faustino had abandoned the Nationalist Party in 1939, and had turned into an informant for the FBI.

Albizu Campos returned to Puerto Rico in 1947, after having been incarcerated for 10 years in Atlanta. Díaz Pacheco and the cadets were among those who greeted him. Albizu Campos named Díaz Pacheco Treasurer General of the party. Thus, Díaz Pacheco now served as both Comandante (Commander) of the Cadets of the Republic, and as Treasurer General of the party. As Treasurer General he was responsible for all the funds received by the municipal treasurers of the party.

On May 21, 1948, the Puerto Rican legislature, which was presided over by Luis Muñoz Marín approved Law 53. The law which is also known as Ley de la Mordaza or "Puerto Rico's Gag Law" was signed into law on June 10, 1948 by the U.S.- appointed governor Jesús T. Piñero. The law's main objective was to suppress the independence movement in Puerto Rico. The law made it a crime to own or display a Puerto Rican flag, to sing a patriotic tune, to speak or write of independence, or meet with anyone, or hold any assembly, with regard to the political status of Puerto Rico.

Puerto Rican Nationalist Party revolts of the 1950s

Various incidents between the government and the party led to call for an armed revolt by the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party against United States Government rule over Puerto Rico.

The revolts specifically repudiated the so-called "Free Associated State" (Estado Libre Asociado) designation of Puerto Rico - a designation that the nationalist considered a colonial farce.

The revolts began on October 30, 1950, upon the orders of Nationalist leader Albizu Campos, with uprisings in various towns, among them Peñuelas, Mayagüez, Naranjito, Arecibo and Ponce. The most notable uprisings occurred in Utuado, Jayuya, and San Juan, Puerto Rico.

San Juan Nationalist revolt
Díaz Pacheco was in charge of the San Juan revolt. The objective of the revolt was to assassinate the Governor of Puerto Rico Luis Muñoz Marín, at his residence La Fortaleza.

Early in the morning of October 30, Nationalists Domingo Hiraldo Resto, Carlos Hiraldo Resto, Gregorio Hernández and Manuel Torres Medina met at the house of Díaz Pacheco, in the San Juan sector of Martín Peña. At 11 A.M., they boarded a green Plymouth and headed towards Old San Juan. The men arrived at La Fortaleza at noon and stopped their car 25 feet from their objective's main entrance They got out of the car with a submachine gun and pistols in hand and immediately began firing at the mansion. Díaz Pacheco headed towards the mansion while the others took cover close to their car, and fired pistols from their positions.

The Fortaleza guards and police, who knew of the planned attack thanks to a double agent named E. Rivera Orellana, were already in defensive positions and returned fire.

Díaz Pacheco aimed his sub machine gun fire at the second floor of the mansion, where the executive offices of Governor Muñoz Marín were located. During the firefight Díaz Pacheco wounded two police officers, Isidoro Ramos and Vicente Otero Díaz, before he was killed by Fortaleza guard Carmelo Dávila.

Meanwhile, the police continued to fire upon the other Nationalists. Domingo Hiraldo Resto was seriously wounded, but despite his wounds he dragged himself towards the mansions entrance. He was able to reach the mansions main door and once there he was motionless and appeared to be dead. He suddenly turned and sat on the steps and with his hands held up pleaded for mercy, his pleas however, were answered with a fusillade of gunfire.

Hernández, who was also severely wounded, continued firing at the police from under his car. A police officer and a detective from La Fortaleza with submachine guns approached the car and fired upon Hernández, Carlos Hiraldo Resto and Torres Medina. Both Carlos Hiraldo Resto and Torres Medina were killed, and their motionless bodies were by the right side of the car.

Hernández was believed to be dead, however he wasn't, and he was taken to the local hospital along with the wounded police officers where they were operated on for their respective wounds. The battle lasted 15 minutes and at the end of the battle there were five nationalist casualties (four dead and one wounded) plus three wounded police officers.

E. Rivera Orellana, a sixth "Nationalist" who later turned out to be an undercover agent, was arrested near La Fortaleza and later released.

Aftermath
The revolt failed because of the overwhelming force used by the US military and Puerto Rican police forces against the Nationalists. Hundreds of Nationalists were arrested and the party was never the same. Law 53, the Gag Law (or La Ley de la Mordaza as it is known in Puerto Rico), was repealed in 1957. In 1964, David M. Helfeld wrote in his article Discrimination for Political Beliefs and Associations that Law 53 was written with the explicit intent of eliminating the leaders of the Nationalist and other pro-independence movements, and to intimidate anyone who might follow them - even if their speeches were reasonable and orderly, and their activities were peaceful.

Betrayal by his own brother
According to the FBI Files: Nationalist Party of Puerto Rico (1952), Díaz Pacheco's brother Faustino (1903–2003) cooperated with the FBI, and was one of their primary informants regarding the Nationalist Party, the Cadets of the Republic, and the entire Puerto Rican revolution.

For nearly twenty years, Faustino Díaz Pacheco provided the FBI with detailed information about the structure, funding, leadership, weapons, recruitment activity, and strategic planning of the Nationalist Party and the Cadets of the Republic. In providing the FBI this information Faustino betrayed his own brother, the Nationalist movement, and the people of Puerto Rico.

Further reading
 El Ataque Nacionalista a La Fortaleza (Spanish); author; Gregorio Hernandez Rivera; Publisher: Publicaciones Rene (January 2007);
 America's Colony: The Political and Cultural Conflict between the United States and Puerto Rico (Critical America (New York University Hardcover)); author: Pedro A Malavet; Publisher: NYU Press;
 War Against All Puerto Ricans: Revolution and Terror in America's Colony; Author: Nelson Antonio Denis; Publisher: Nation Books (April 7, 2015); .

See also

 List of Puerto Ricans
 List of revolutions and rebellions
 Cadets of the Republic

19th Century male leaders of the Puerto Rican Independence Movement
 Ramón Emeterio Betances
 Mathias Brugman
 Francisco Ramírez Medina
  Manuel Rojas
 Segundo Ruiz Belvis
 Antonio Valero de Bernabé

19th century female leaders of the Puerto Rican Independence Movement
 María de las Mercedes Barbudo
 Lola Rodríguez de Tió
 Mariana Bracetti

Male members of the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party
 Pedro Albizu Campos
 José S. Alegría
 Casimiro Berenguer
 Rafael Cancel Miranda
 José Coll y Cuchí
 Oscar Collazo
 Juan Antonio Corretjer
 Carmelo Delgado Delgado
 Tomás López de Victoria
 Hugo Margenat
 Francisco Matos Paoli
 Vidal Santiago Díaz
 Daniel Santos
 Clemente Soto Vélez
 Griselio Torresola
 Antonio Vélez Alvarado
 Carlos Vélez Rieckehoff
 Teófilo Villavicencio Marxuach

Female members of the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party
 Julia de Burgos
 Blanca Canales
 Rosa Collazo
 Lolita Lebrón
 Isabel Rosado
 Isabel Freire de Matos
 Ruth Mary Reynolds
 Isolina Rondón
 Olga Viscal Garriga

 Articles related to the Puerto Rican Independence Movement
 Puerto Rican Nationalist Party
 Ponce massacre
 Río Piedras massacre
 Puerto Rican Independence Party
 Grito de Lares
 Intentona de Yauco

Notes

References

1906 births
1950 deaths
Deaths by firearm in Puerto Rico
Imprisoned Puerto Rican independence activists
People from Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico
Puerto Rican people of Spanish descent
Puerto Rican Nationalist Party politicians
Puerto Rican revolutionaries
People shot dead by law enforcement officers

Raimundo Díaz Pacheco


FaceGen is a 3D face-generating 3D modeling middleware produced by Singular Inversions.

Approach
Although FaceGen generates conventional 3D mesh data, it uses a "parameterized" approach to defining the properties that make up a face, and by using a fixed set of parameters it is able to morph and modify a face model independently of output resolution. FaceGen 3.3 allows the user to randomize, tween, normalize and exaggerate faces, and also includes algorithms for adjusting apparent age, ethnicity and gender. It also allows limited parametric control of facial expressions, and includes a set of phoneme expressions for the animation of characters with "speaking" roles.

FaceGen can also generate 3D models from front and side images of a face, or by analyzing a single photograph.

Free versions
Free demo versions of FaceGen Artist, FaceGen 3D Print and FaceGen Modeller can be downloaded from the company's website. These allow the user to create, edit, load and save files in the program's proprietary ".fg" format. The free version features the same functionality of the paid version, except that a logo is placed on the forehead of models that are generated and only a few additional assets like hairstyles and beards are provided.

External links
 FaceGen official homepage
 Discovery Channel interview
 https://www.researchgate.net

Anatomical simulation
Windows graphics-related software
3D imaging

FaceGen


USS Walter D. Munson (ID-1510) was a United States Navy cargo ship in commission from 1918 to 1919.

Construction, acquisition, and commissioning

SS Walter D. Munson was built in 1917 at Sparrows Point, Maryland, by the Bethlehem Steel Company as a  commercial cargo ship for the Munson Steamship Line. The United States Shipping Board acquired her from Munson for World War I service early in 1918 and transferred her to the U.S. Navy on 15 April 1918. The Navy assigned her the naval registry Identification Number (Id. No.) 1510 and commissioned her on 19 April 1918 as USS Walter D. Munson at New York City.

United States Navy service, 1918-1919

World War I service
Assigned to the Naval Overseas Transportation Service, Walter D. Munson loaded United States Army supplies at New York City and put to sea on 25 April 1918 with a convoy bound for France. She concluded her first Atlantic crossing in Navy service at Brest, France, on 10 May 1918 and moved on to Gironde on 13 May 1918, in which port she unloaded her cargo and took on ballast for the return voyage. On 27 May 1918, Walter D. Munson departed Gironde with a New York City-bound convoy. She entered New York on 7 June 1918.

After completing voyage repairs and loading another U.S. Army cargo, Walter D. Munson departed in an eastbound convoy for Europe on 18 June 1918 and arrived at Brest on 4 July 1918. This time, she unloaded a portion of her cargo at Brest before moving on to Gironde on 6 July 1918. She completed her unloading at Gironde, took on ballast, and stood out to sea on 24 July 1918. Her westbound convoy arrived at New York on 6 August 1918.

Walter D. Munson again made voyage repairs, loaded a cargo of U.S. Army supplies, and departed New York on 15 August 1918, arriving at Brest on 30 August 1918. On 31 August 1918, she was routed on to Le Havre, France, where she discharged her cargo. Before setting out back across the Atlantic, she visited Plymouth, England, where she topped off her bunkers with coal. Her return convoy rendezvoused on 10 September 1918, crossed the Atlantic, and stood into New York on 23 September 1918.

During a week at New York, Walter D. Munson completed another series of voyage repairs and loaded her fourth Europe-bound cargo. On 30 September 1918, she departed New York in convoy for France. She arrived at Le Havre on 16 October 1918, discharged her cargo there, and then headed back to the United States on 24 October 1918, arriving at New York on 6 November 1918.

Postwar service
Though hostilities ceased on 11 November 1918, Walter D. Munson completed her turnaround and, on 15 November 1918, started back across the Atlantic. She reached France at Quiberon Bay on 27 November 1918, discharged a portion of her cargo there, and then moved on to Nantes, where she unloaded the remainder. She stood out of Nantes on 6 December 1918 and headed for Brest, where she loaded a cargo of steel rails for return to the United States. She left Brest on 11 December 1918 and arrived in New York on 24 December 1918.

After unloading the steel rails, Walter D. Munson took on a cargo of commissary supplies and gasoline. On 8 January 1919, she set out upon her last round-trip voyage to Europe in commissioned U.S. Navy service. She entered Quiberon Bay on 24 January 1919 and, on 29 January 1919, continued on to Nantes where she discharged her cargo. She returned to sea 15 February 1919 and set a course for the Delaware Capes.

Walter D. Munson arrived at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on 7 March 1919 and there received word of her imminent demobilization. She was decommissioned on 14 April 1919 and simultaneously transferred to the United States Shipping Board for further simultaneous return to the Munson Steamship Line.

Later career
Returning to commercial service once again as SS Walter D. Munson, the ship served with the Munson Steamship Line until 1940, when she was sold to the Greek firm Rethymnis and Kulukundis (Hellas) S.A. of Piraeus, Greece. Renamed SS Mount Kyllene, the ship remained in merchant service, operating out of Piraeus, until she was scrapped in 1959 or 1960 The Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships states that Mount Kyllenes "name disappeared from mercantile lists" in 1960.

Notes

References

NavSource Online: Section Patrol Craft Photo Archive: Walter D. Munson (ID 1510)

World War I cargo ships of the United States
Ships built in Sparrows Point, Maryland
1917 ships
Cargo ships of the United States Navy

USS Walter D. Munson


Sergej Ćetković (, ; born 8 March 1976) is a Montenegrin recording artist. He lives and works in the Serbian capital of Belgrade. Ćetković represented Montenegro in the Eurovision Song Contest 2014.

Biography

Early life
Sergej Ćetković was born in Podgorica, SR Montenegro, Yugoslavia on 8 March 1976.

Career
He made his first contact with music when he was only seven years old. His first appearance was as a member of the youngest Montenegrin group at that time called Vatrena srca (Fiery hearts). He played piano and sang vocals. It was then when he felt the need to become a part of the professional musical life. He started his career as a singer in 1998 at the well known festival called Sunčane skale with the song Bila si ruža (You were a rose). Two years after his solo debut, he published his first CD called Kristina in December 2000. The CD was big success and young publishing company Goraton bought the copyrights from Pogorica's Hi-Fi centre and reprinted the CD with new label and started to sell it in all territories of former Yugoslavia.

Exactly two years after his first CD, he published his second CD called Budi mi voda (Be my water) in December 2002 with 12 new songs with the company Goraton. In 2003 he participated at Budva's festival (Budvanski festival) with the song Postojim i ja which won the best arrangement award. In 2005, Goraton published his The Best Of compilation.

After this, Sergej presented to the media his third CD called Kad ti zatreba with 10 new songs. The most popular song from this last album is called Pogledi u tami.

In year 2007, he had an extremely successful tour throughout Serbia and Montenegro, which was completely sold out, and for every town, additional evenings had to be scheduled. Such success was unexpected by, perhaps, everyone. The biggest hit of the tour was the song Pogledi u tami.

On 19 November 2013, Ćetković was chosen to represent Montenegro at the Eurovision Song Contest 2014 with the song Moj svijet. He qualified from the first semi-final and represented Montenegro in the final on 10 May, a first time that Montenegro participated in the final. In the end, he scored 37 points, placing 19th out of 26 countries.

Discography
Kristina (2000)
Budi mi voda (2003)
Kad ti zatreba (2005)
Pola moga svijeta (2007)
2 minuta (2010)
Moj svijet (2015)

Compilations
The Best Of... (2005)
Sergej Live (2006)
Balade (2011)

Soundtrack
Pogledi u tami - A View from Eiffel Tower (2005)

References

External links

1976 births
Living people
Musicians from Podgorica
21st-century Montenegrin male singers
21st-century Serbian male singers
Eurovision Song Contest entrants of 2014
Eurovision Song Contest entrants for Montenegro
Articles containing video clips

Sergej Ćetković


Mississippi State Axion Search is the first of its kind light shining through the wall experiment designed to operate using a continuous radio wave emitter as the source of photons. The experiment contains a radio source and a set of detectors separated by a wall. The aim of the experiment is to limit the mass and coupling constants of an axion like particle or a para photon by looking at the photons on the dark side of the tuned cavity. The experiment is projected to be completed by 2016.

Collaboration

The collaboration currently includes members from the following institutions;
 Mississippi State University

References

Particle experiments
Mississippi State University

Mississippi State Axion Search


MiniDisc (MD) is an erasable magneto-optical disc-based data storage format offering a capacity of 60, 74, and later, 80 minutes of digitized audio.

Sony announced the MiniDisc in September 1992 and released it in November of that year for sale in Japan and in December in Europe, North America, and other countries. The music format was based on ATRAC audio data compression, Sony's own proprietary compression code. Its successor, Hi-MD, would later introduce the option of linear PCM digital recording to meet audio quality comparable to that of a compact disc. MiniDiscs were very popular in Japan and found moderate success in Europe. Although it was designed to succeed the cassette tape, it did not manage to supplant it globally.

By March 2011 Sony had sold 22 million MD players, but halted further development. Sony ceased manufacturing and sold the last of the players by March 2013.

Market history
In 1983, just a year after the introduction of the compact disc, Kees Schouhamer Immink and Joseph Braat presented the first experiments with erasable magneto-optical compact discs during the 73rd AES Convention in Eindhoven. It took almost 10 years, however, before their idea was commercialized.

Sony's MiniDisc was one of two rival digital systems introduced in 1992 that were intended to replace the Philips Compact Cassette analog audio tape system: the other was the Digital Compact Cassette (DCC), created by Philips and Matsushita (now Panasonic). Sony had originally intended the Digital Audio Tape (DAT) to be the dominant home digital audio recording format, replacing the analog cassette. Because of technical delays, the DAT was not launched until 1989, and by then the U.S. dollar had fallen so far against the yen that the introductory DAT machine Sony had intended to market for about $400 in the late 1980s then had to retail for $800 or even $1,000 to break even, putting it out of reach of most users.

Relegating DAT to professional use, Sony set to work to come up with a simpler, more economical digital home format. By the time Sony came up with the MiniDisc in late 1992, Philips had introduced a competing system, DCC, on a magnetic tape cassette. This created marketing confusion very similar to the videocassette format war of the late 1970s and early 1980s. Sony licensed MD technology to other manufacturers, with JVC, Sharp, Pioneer, Panasonic and others producing their own MD products. However, non-Sony machines were not widely available in North America, and companies such as Technics and Radio Shack tended to promote DCC instead.

Despite having a loyal customer base largely of musicians and audio enthusiasts, the MiniDisc met with only limited success in the United States. It was very popular in Japan and parts of Asia, and relatively so in Europe during the 1990s and into the 2000s, but did not enjoy comparable sales success in other markets. Since then, recordable CDs, flash memory and HDD and solid-state-based digital audio players such as iPods have become increasingly popular as playback devices.

The slow uptake of MiniDisc was attributed to the small number of pre-recorded albums available on MD, because relatively few record labels embraced the format. The initial high cost of equipment and blank media was also a factor. Additionally, home MiniDisc decks were less widely available, with most consumers instead connecting a portable MD device to their hi-fi system in order to record.

MiniDisc technology was faced with new competition from the recordable compact disc (CD-R) when it became more affordable to consumers beginning around 1996. Initially, Sony believed that it would take around a decade for CD-R prices to become affordable – the cost of a typical blank CD-R disc was around $12 in 1994 – but CD-R prices fell much more rapidly than envisioned, to the point where CD-R blanks sank below $1 per disc by the late 1990s, compared to at least $2 for the cheapest 80-minute MiniDisc blanks.

The biggest competition for MiniDisc came with the emergence of MP3 players. With the Diamond Rio player in 1998 and the Apple iPod in 2001, the mass market began to eschew physical media in favor of more convenient file-based systems.

By 2007, because of the waning popularity of the format and the increasing popularity of solid-state MP3 players, Sony was producing only one model, the Hi-MD MZ-RH1, available as the MZ-M200 in North America packaged with a Sony microphone and limited Apple Macintosh software support.

The MZ-RH1 allowed users to freely move uncompressed digital recordings back and forth from the MiniDisc to a computer without the copyright protection limitations previously imposed upon the NetMD series. This allowed the MiniDisc to better compete with HD recorders and MP3 players. However, most pro users like broadcasters and news reporters had already abandoned MiniDisc in favor of solid-state recorders, because of their extended recording time, open digital content sharing, high-quality digital recording capabilities and reliable, lightweight design.

On 7 July 2011, Sony announced that it would no longer ship MiniDisc Walkman products as of September 2011, effectively killing the format.

On 1 February 2013, Sony issued a press release on the Nikkei stock exchange that it would cease shipment of all MD devices, with last of the players to be sold in March 2013. However, it would continue to sell blank discs and offer repair services. Other manufacturers continued to release MiniDisc players long after Sony stopped, with TEAC & TASCAM producing new decks up until 2020 when both its consumer and professional products, TEAC MD-70CD and TASCAM MD-CD1MKIII, were discontinued.

Design

Physical characteristics

The disc is fixed in a cartridge (68×72×5 mm) with a sliding door, similar to the casing of a 3.5" floppy disk. This shutter is opened automatically when inserted into a drive. MiniDiscs can either be blank or prerecorded. Recordable MiniDiscs use a magneto-optical system to write data: a laser below the disc heats a spot to its Curie point, making the material in the disc susceptible to a magnetic field. A magnetic head above the disc then alters the polarity of the heated area, recording the digital data onto the disk. Playback is accomplished with the laser alone: taking advantage of the magneto-optic Kerr effect, the player senses the polarization of the reflected light as a 1 or a 0. Recordable MDs can be rerecorded repeatedly, with Sony claiming up to one million times. By May 2005, there were 60-minute, 74-minute and 80-minute discs available. 60-minute blanks, which were widely available in the early years of the format's introduction, were phased out.

MiniDiscs use a mastering process and optical playback system that is very similar to CDs. The recorded signal of the premastered pits and of the recordable MD are also very similar. Eight-to-Fourteen Modulation (EFM) and a modification of CD's CIRC code, called Advanced Cross Interleaved Reed-Solomon Code (ACIRC) are employed.

Differences from cassette and CDs

MiniDiscs use rewritable magneto-optical storage to store, data. Unlike DCC or the analog Compact Cassette, MiniDisc is a random-access medium, making seek time very fast. MiniDiscs can be edited very quickly even on portable machines. Tracks can be split, combined, moved or deleted with ease either on the player or uploaded to a PC with Sony's SonicStage V4.3 software and edited there. Transferring data from an MD unit to a non-Windows PC can only be done in real time, preferably via optical I/O, by connecting the audio out port of the MD to an available audio in port of the computer. With the release of the Hi-MD format, Sony began to use Macintosh compatible software. However, the Mac-compatible software was still not compatible with legacy MD formats (SP, LP2, LP4). This means that an MD recorded on a legacy unit or in a legacy format still requires a Windows PC for faster than real-time transfers.

The beginning of the disc has a table of contents (TOC, the System File area), which stores the start positions of the various tracks, as well as metadata (title, artist) and free blocks. Unlike a conventional cassette, a recorded song does not need to be stored as one piece on the disc, it can be scattered in fragments, similar to a hard drive. Early MiniDisc equipment had a fragment granularity of 4 seconds of audio. Fragments smaller than the granularity are not monitored, which may lead to the usable capacity of a disc shrinking over time. No means of defragmenting the disc is provided in consumer-grade equipment.

All consumer-grade MiniDisc devices have a copy-protection scheme called the Serial Copy Management System. An unprotected disc or song can be copied without limit, but the copies can no longer be digitally copied. However, as a concession, the last Hi-MD players can upload to PC a digitally recorded file which can be resaved as a WAV (PCM) file and thus replicated.

Audio data compression

The digitally encoded audio signal on a MiniDisc has traditionally been data-compressed using the ATRAC (Adaptive Transform Acoustic Coding) format.

ATRAC was devised to allow MiniDisc to have the same runtime as a CD. ATRAC reduces the 1.4 Mbit/s of a CD to a 292 kbit/s data stream, roughly a 5:1 reduction. ATRAC was also used on nearly all flash memory Walkman devices until the 8 series.

The ATRAC codec differs from uncompressed PCM in that it is a psychoacoustic lossy audio data reduction scheme. Like other lossy audio compression formats, it is intended to be acoustically transparent, but some listeners claim to be able to hear audible artifacts.

There have been four versions of ATRAC, each claimed by Sony to more accurately reflect the original audio. Early players are guaranteed to play later version ATRAC audio. Version 1 could only be copied on consumer equipment three or four times before artifacts became objectionable, as the ATRAC on the recorder attempted to compress the already compressed data. By version 4, the potential number of generations of copy had increased to around 15 to 20 depending on audio content.

The latest versions of Sony's ATRAC are ATRAC3 and ATRAC3plus. Original ATRAC3 at 132 kbit/s (also known as ATRAC-LP2 mode) was the format that was used by Sony's defunct Connect audio download store. ATRAC3plus was not used in order to retain backwards compatibility with earlier NetMD players.

In the MiniDisc's final iteration, Hi-MD, uncompressed CD-quality linear PCM audio recording and playback is offered, placing Hi-MD on par with CD-quality audio. Hi-MD also supports both ATRAC3 and ATRAC3plus at various bitrates, but not the original ATRAC (except for playback only).

Anti-skip
MiniDisc has a feature that prevents disc skipping under all but the most extreme conditions. Older CD players had been a source of annoyance to users as they were prone to mistracking from vibration and shock. MiniDisc solved this problem by reading the data into a memory buffer at a higher speed than was required before being read out to the digital-to-analog converter at the standard rate of the format. The size of the buffer varies by model.

If a MiniDisc player is bumped, playback continues unimpeded while the laser repositions itself to continue reading data from the disc. This feature allows the player to stop the spindle motor for significant periods, increasing battery life.

A buffer of at least six seconds is required on all MiniDisc players, whether portable or full-sized units. This ensures uninterrupted playback in the presence of file fragmentation.

Operation

The data structure and operation of a MiniDisc is similar to that of a computer's hard disk drive. The bulk of the disc contains audio data, and a small section contains the table of contents (TOC), providing the playback device with vital information about the number and location of tracks on the disc. Tracks and discs can be named. Tracks may easily be added, erased, combined and divided, and their preferred order of playback modified. Erased tracks are not physically erased, but are only marked as deleted. When a disc becomes full, the recorder can simply direct the data into sections where erased tracks reside. This can lead to fragmentation but unless many erasures and replacements are performed, the only likely problem is excessive searching, reducing battery life.

The data structure of the MiniDisc, where music is recorded in a single stream of bytes while the TOC contains pointers to track positions, allows for gapless playback of music, something which competing portable players such as most MP3 players, fail to implement properly. Notable exceptions are CD players, as well as all recent iPods.

At the end of recording, after the "Stop" button has been pressed, the MiniDisc may continue to write music data for a few seconds from its memory buffers. During this time, it may display a message ("Data Save", on at least some models) and the case will not open. After the audio data is written out, the final step is to write the TOC track denoting the start and endpoints of the recorded data. Sony points out in the manual that the power should not be interrupted or the unit exposed to undue physical shock during this time.

Copy protection
All MiniDisc recorders use the SCMS copy protection system which uses two bits in the S/PDIF digital audio stream and on disc to differentiate between "protected" vs. "unprotected" audio, and between "original" vs. "copy":
 Recording digitally from a source marked "protected" and "original" (produced by a prerecorded MD or an MD that recorded an analogue input) was allowed, but the recorder would change the "original" bit to the "copy" state on the disc to prevent further copying of the copy. A CD imported via a digital connection does not have the SCMS bits (as the CD format predates SCMS), but the recording MD recorder treats any signal where the SCMS bits are missing as protected and original. The MD copy, therefore, cannot be further copied digitally.
 Recording digitally from a source marked "protected" and "copy" was not allowed: an error message would be shown on the display.
 Recording digitally from a source marked "unprotected" was also allowed; the "original/copy" marker was ignored and left unchanged.

Recording from an analogue source resulted in a disc marked "protected" and "original" allowing one further copy to be made (this contrasts with the SCMS on the Digital Compact Cassette where analogue recording was marked as "unprotected").

In recorders that could be connected to a PC via USB, it was possible to transfer audio from the PC to the MiniDisc recorder, but for many years it was not possible to transfer audio the other direction. This restriction existed in both the SonicStage software and in the MiniDisc player itself. SonicStage V3.4 was the first version of the software where this restriction was removed, but it still required a MiniDisc recorder/player that also had the restriction removed. The Hi-MD model MZ-RH1 was the only such player available.

Format extensions

MD Data

MD Data, a format for storing computer data, was announced by Sony in 1993 but never gained significant ground. Its media were incompatible with standard audio MiniDiscs, which has been cited as one of the main reasons behind the format's failure. MD Data can not write to audio MDs, but only the considerably more expensive data blanks. It did see some success in a small number of multi-track recorders such as Sony's MDM-X4, Tascam's 564 (which could also record using standard audio MD discs, albeit only two tracks), and Yamaha's MD8, MD4, & MD4S.

MD Data2
In 1997, MD Data2 blanks were introduced with 650 MB. They were only implemented in Sony's short-lived MD-based camcorder, the DCM-M1.

MDLP
In 2000, Sony announced MDLP (MiniDisc Long Play), which added new recording modes based on the new codec ATRAC3. In addition to the standard, high-quality mode, now called SP, MDLP adds LP2 mode, which doubles the recording time – 160 minutes on an 80-minute disc – of good-quality stereo sound, and LP4, which allows four times more recording time – 320 minutes on an 80-minute disc – of medium-quality stereo sound.

The bitrate of the standard SP mode is 292 kbit/s, and it uses separate stereo coding with discrete left and right channels. LP2 mode uses a bitrate of 132 kbit/s and also uses separate stereo coding. The third mode, LP4, has a bitrate of 66 kbit/s and uses joint stereo coding. The sound quality is noticeably degraded compared to the other two modes, but is sufficient for many uses.

Tracks recorded in LP2 or LP4 mode play back as silence on non-MDLP players.

NetMD

Debuting in late 2001, NetMD recorders allow music files to be transferred from a computer to a recorder (but not in the other direction) over a USB connection. In LP4 mode, speeds of up to 32× real-time are possible and three Sony NetMD recorders (MZ-N10, MZ-N910, and MZ-N920) are capable of speeds up to 64× real-time. NetMD recorders all support MDLP.

When transferring music in SP mode using NetMD with SonicStage, what is transferred is actually padded LP2. That is to say that the quality of the music is that of LP2 but recorded as SP.

NetMD is a proprietary protocol that initially required proprietary software such as SonicStage.  A free *nix based implementation, libnetmd, has been developed. The library allows the user to upload SP files in full quality. In 2019, a programmer named Stefano Brilli compiled the linux-minidisc CLI into a web browser-based application, allowing users to transfer music via USB on modern devices.

Hi-MD

Hi-MD is a further development of the MiniDisc format. Hi-MD media will not play on non-Hi-MD equipment, including NetMD players. The Hi-MD format, introduced in 2004, marked a return to the data storage arena with its 1 GB discs and ability to act as a USB drive. Hi-MD units allow the recording and playback of audio and data on the same disc, and can write both audio and data to standard MiniDisc media – an 80-minute MiniDisc blank could be formatted to store 305 MB of data.

Recording and transfer modes
Modes marked in green are available for recordings made on the player, while those marked in red are available for music transferred from a PC. Capacities are official Sony figures; real world figures are usually slightly higher. Native MP3 support was added in second-generation Hi-MD players in the spring of 2005. SonicStage version 3.4, released in Feb 2006, introduced ripping CDs in bitrates 320 and 352 and added track transfer in ATRAC 192 kbit/s to Hi-MD devices.

See also

 Capacitance Electronic Disc (SelectaVision) – an RCA-developed format that uses a disc inside a sleeve, like MD
 Fidelipac
 Universal Media Disc (UMD) – a similar Sony format, but read-only
 Mini CD
 MiniDVD
 Mini Blu-ray

References

External links

List of artists with a Minidisc release – Discogs

Audiovisual introductions in 1992
Audio storage
Consumer electronics
Digital audio
History of radio
Sony products
Discontinued media formats
Japanese inventions

MiniDisc


Libyan Americans () are United States citizens of Libyan descent or Libyan citizens who also have United States (US) citizenship.

Most Libyan Americans speak Arabic and English.
According to the 2000 Census there were 2,979 Americans who claimed Libyan ancestry.

Some Libyan American associations are the Libyan American Organization, Libyan American Friendship Association (LAFA), Libyan American Association in Southern California and Libyan American Association of Georgia.

The Libyan American Organization have as goal the Libya defense, promote political awareness among its members and integrate to all community in the association. In addition, the organization wants to improve education, health care and infrastructure of Libya. The association hopes to have the community support in order to "rebuilding our beloved country".

Libyan American Friendship Association (LAFA) have as goal promote friendship between the Libyan and U.S., making dialogue the two peoples by holding international meetings and symposia, for the creation of programs and projects that help both peoples to establish ties. The organization celebrates coordinate visits between institutions of "economic, social, scientific and national / civil joint".

Notable people
 Saddeka Arebi (d. 2007), social anthropologist, author
 Don Coscarelli (b. 1954), film director, producer, screenwriter
 Sadeg Faris, engineer, entrepreneur
 Fadwa El Gallal, journalist
 Mohamed Hrezi (b. 1991), marathon runner
 Khaled Mattawa (b. 1964), poet
 Esam Omeish (b. 1967), surgeon
 Noor Tagouri (b. 1993), journalist, activist, motivational speaker
 Khalifa Haftar (b. 1943), general, commander of the Libyan National Army

See also

 Libya–United States relations
 Arab Americans
 Berber Americans
 North Africans in the United States
 Libyan Canadians

References

Further reading
 Stabin, Tova. "Libyan Americans." Gale Encyclopedia of Multicultural America, edited by Thomas Riggs, (3rd ed., vol. 3, Gale, 2014), pp. 101-109. online

External links
 The American-Libyan Council
 Libyan American Organization

North Africans in the United States

Arab American

American

Libyan Americans


Allstedt-Kaltenborn was a Verwaltungsgemeinschaft ("collective municipality") in the Mansfeld-Südharz district, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It was situated east of Sangerhausen. The seat of the Verwaltungsgemeinschaft was in Allstedt. It was disbanded on 1 January 2010.

The Verwaltungsgemeinschaft Allstedt-Kaltenborn consisted of the following municipalities:

Former Verwaltungsgemeinschaften in Saxony-Anhalt

Allstedt-Kaltenborn


The Melbourne Sports and Entertainment Centre (originally known as the Swimming and Diving Stadium and now known commercially as the AIA Vitality Centre) is a sports administration and training facility located in the Melbourne Sports and Entertainment Precinct in Melbourne, Australia. The facility opened in 1956 as an aquatic centre for the 1956 Olympic Games. In 1983, the Olympic-sized pool was replaced with a parquetry floor and the facility became Melbourne's home of numerous basketball events until 1998, most notably as the home venue for several National Basketball League teams including the North Melbourne Giants and Melbourne Tigers. The venue served as Melbourne's primary indoor concert arena from 1984 to 1988, until completion of the Rod Laver Arena.

The centre is the administrative and training headquarters of the Collingwood Football Club and Netball Club, who also train on the adjacent Olympic Park Oval.

History

1956 Olympic Games
Known originally as the Swimming and Diving Stadium, it was built as an indoor aquatic centre for diving, swimming, water polo, and the swimming part of the modern pentathlon events for the 1956 Summer Olympics. It was the first fully indoor Olympic swimming venue in an Olympic Games and is the only major stadium structure from the 1956 Olympic Games with the facade intact. It is listed on the Victorian Heritage Register. The design of this building was the winner of one of three international competitions held in 1952 to provide stadia for the 1956 Olympic Games. Architects Kevin Borland, Peter McIntyre, John and Phyllis Murphy and their engineer Bill Irwin won the only one of these competitions to be consummated.  Construction by McDougall & Ireland, one of Melbourne's then-largest construction companies, began in October 1954 and was completed in 1956, just prior to the commencement of the Melbourne Olympic Games.

Artist Arthur Boyd created Totem Pole, the ceramic pylon sculptural work outside the complex, at his AMB Pottery in Murrumbeena.

Basketball
After redevelopment in the 1980s, the venue became the Melbourne Sports and Entertainment Centre. It hosted home games for the National Basketball League's North Melbourne Giants, as well as the Melbourne Tigers, Eastside Spectres and Westside Melbourne Saints, as well as hosting international games between the Australian Boomers and various visiting international teams including the Soviet Union who played there in 1987. The Giants would remain at The Glass House until their final season in 1998. The Tigers would move to the 15,400 capacity (for basketball) National Tennis Centre at Flinders Park in 1992, while the Spectres and Saints merged in 1991 to become the South East Melbourne Magic. The Magic would also move to Melbourne Park in 1992 leaving the Giants as the only NBL tenants at the venue.

From 1984 until 1986, The Glass house with its 7,200 capacity was the largest venue used in the NBL. Its position was taken when the Brisbane Bullets moved into the 13,500 seat Brisbane Entertainment Centre in mid-1986. By the time of the venue's last NBL game on Friday 5 June 1998 which saw the Giants defeat the Perth Wildcats 109–103, The Glass House was still the 4th largest venue in use, though having opened in 1956 it was also the oldest.

The North Melbourne Giants won the NBL Championship at The Glass House in 1989 when they defeated the Canberra Cannons 2–0 in the Grand Final series, reversing the result of the 1988 NBL Grand Final when they had lost to the Cannons. They won their second and last title in 1994 when they defeated the Adelaide 36ers, again 2–0 in the best of three series.

The Glass House also hosted the NBL All-Star Game in 1988, 1989 and 1991.

Collingwood Football Club
Collingwood Football Club moved its administrative and training facilities from Victoria Park to the Melbourne Sports and Entertainment Centre in 2004. The Collingwood Football Club also used Olympic Park Stadium being adjacent to the centre as its outdoor training facility from 2004 until 2012, when it was demolished. After this occurred, Collingwood Football Club moved its outdoor training ground to the newly developed Olympic Park Oval that replaced the space of the stadium after demolition.

Sponsorship and naming rights arrangements
The luxury vehicle manufacturer Lexus bought the naming rights to the venue in 2004; as the Lexus Centre, it no longer served as a public stadium, instead being used by the Victorian Institute of Sport and the Collingwood Football Club as a sports administration and training facility. The Lexus Centre was listed as part of the Melbourne Sports and Entertainment Precinct. On 21 November 2009, Collingwood Football Club announced publicly on the official AFL website that Lexus would no longer continue to maintain the rights of naming the centre. Lexus announced in a statement that "the branding exercise had achieved its marketing objectives and was no longer a priority in its marketing strategy", hence ending a six-year naming rights deal between Lexus and Collingwood. In March, 2010, Collingwood announced that Westpac bank was the new naming rights sponsor of the centre.

On 19 August 2015, Holden signed a multimillion-dollar three-year deal to become a Premier Partner of Collingwood and holder of the naming rights to the club's headquarters at Olympic Park, now known as the Holden Centre.

In March 2022, American International Assurance Company (Australia) (known as AIA) was announced as the new naming rights partner. The centre was thus renamed the AIA Centre.

Awards and recognition
The Swimming and Diving Stadium received an Engineering Heritage International Marker from Engineers Australia as part of its Engineering Heritage Recognition Program. In 2021 the Australian Institute of Architects gave the design its National Enduring Architecture Award.

References

External links

Westpac Centre, Venues.com.au
Victorian Institute of Sport
Collingwood Football Club

Sports venues completed in 1956
Venues of the 1956 Summer Olympics
Sports venues in Melbourne
Defunct National Basketball League (Australia) venues
Basketball venues in Australia
Netball venues in Victoria (state)
Heritage-listed buildings in Melbourne
Swimming venues in Australia
Collingwood Football Club
Lexus
Olympic diving venues
Olympic modern pentathlon venues
Olympic swimming venues
Olympic water polo venues
Modernist architecture in Australia
North Melbourne Giants
Melbourne United
Recipients of Engineers Australia engineering heritage markers
Buildings and structures in the City of Melbourne (LGA)
Swimming at the 1956 Summer Olympics
Diving at the 1956 Summer Olympics
Water polo at the 1956 Summer Olympics
Water polo venues in Australia


Edward Hamilton may refer to:

Sir Edward Hamilton, 1st Baronet (1772–1851), Royal Navy admiral
Edward D. Hamilton (1801–1883), secretary of the Oregon Territory, 1850–1853
Edward Hamilton (pastoralist) (1809–1898), British pastoralist in New South Wales and Member of Parliament for Salisbury
Edward Hamilton (homeopath) (1815–1903), British homeopath
Edward Hamilton (Australian politician) (1831–?), Colonial Architect and member of the House of Assembly in South Australia
Sir Edward Walter Hamilton (1847–1908), British political diarist and private secretary to William Ewart Gladstone
Edward Hamilton (British Army officer) (1854–1944), British Army officer
Edward L. Hamilton (1857–1923), U.S. Representative from Michigan
Ed Hamilton (American football) (1880–?), college football, basketball, and baseball player and coach
Edward S. Hamilton (1917–2006), American World War II veteran and CIA operative
Ed Hamilton (born 1947), American sculptor

Edward Hamilton


Potamogeton pusillus is a species of aquatic plant known by the common names small pondweed,  lesser pondweed or least pondweed. It occurs in standing and slow-flowing freshwater habitats throughout the Northern Hemisphere.

Description
Lesser pondweed is a superficially grasslike herb producing a very slender, branching, somewhat compressed stem, usually less than 70 cm but occasionally up to one metre in length. Nodal glands, if present, are generally poorly developed. The leaves are narrow and linear, translucent, mid or olive green, usually 20–50 mm long × 0.8-1.4 mm wide, but rarely up to 100 mm long and 1.9 mm wide. The midrib often lacks lacunae (transparent areas either side of the midrib) either side of it, and if present, lacunae are restricted to the lower half of the leaf. There are no floating leaves. The stipules are tubular when young, but tend to split with age.

Turions are produced, often in large quantities. In early autumn the entire plant disintegrates into a mass of turions, which act as a means of propagation and as an overwintering mechanism.

The inflorescence is a spike of 3-6 flowers arranged in interrupted whorls.

Like most fine-leaved pondweeds, Potamogeton pusillus is diploid, with 2n=26.

Lesser pondweed can be difficult to distinguish reliably from other fine-leaved pondweeds, especially P. berchtoldii. Hybrids are recorded with Potamogeton octandrus (P. × apertus Miki), P. polygonus (P. × attenuatus Hagstr.), P. obtusifolius (P. × saxonicus Hagstr.), P. trichoides (P. × grovesii Dandy & G.Taylor), P. berchtoldii (P. × mucronulatus (G.Fisch.) Papch.), P. oxyphyllus (P. × orientalis Hagstr.).

Taxonomy
Lesser pondweed was one of several pondweeds first named by Linnaeus in his Species Plantarum (1753). The specific epithet pusillus means 'small'.

This is one of a group of rather similar fine-leaved species that also includes P. berchtoldii, P. hillii and P. ochreatus. These are quite morphologically variable plants, often with wide geographical and ecological ranges, which has resulted in a great deal of taxonomic confusion and an unusually large number of synonyms and invalid names (see the taxon box).

Distribution
Lesser pondweed is widely distributed globally, occurring across most of Europe (including Scandinavia) and North America. It is reported from scattered locations in Central and Southeast Asia and is widespread in China. It is also widespread in South America  and Africa.

Ecology and conservation
Lesser pondweed grows in standing or slow-flowing water bodies such as ponds, lakes, ditches, slow-moving streams, and river backwaters. It is a lowland plant and requires calcareous water, with a marked preference for high nutrient levels, and may form extensive beds in favourable situations, growing with other nutrient-tolerant species such as Myriophyllum spicatum and Zannichellia palustris. It is tolerant of turbid water and is a good colonist, often exploiting temporary or disturbed habitats such as livestock drinking ponds, canals and ditches. In lakes it is very tolerant of eutrophication and the resulting competition from phytoplankton and periphyton, and is often one of the last submerged plants to disappear.

Globally, Potamogeton pusillus is listed as Least Concern.There is no evidence of local declines and in many areas it is probably increasing due to eutrophication of freshwater habitats. In many parts of its range it is the commonest fine-leaved pondweed.

Cultivation
Lesser pondweed should not be difficult to grow in a garden pond and its tolerance of poor water quality would be advantageous. However, it is not very ornamental.

References

External links
Jepson Manual Treatment
Washington Burke Museum
Photo gallery

pusillus
Flora of Northern America
Flora of Europe
Flora of Asia

Potamogeton pusillus