Darren Shaun Bazeley (born 5 October 1972) is an English football coach and former player. He played as either a right full back or right-sided midfielder. He is currently head coach of the New Zealand team and head coach of the national U-23 and Olympic sides.

Playing career

Watford
Bazeley was born in Northampton, England, and began playing football at a young age with local team Northampton Orion. From 11 to 13 years old, Bazeley attended weekly training sessions with the School of Excellence – a coaching scheme run by the FA. It was through these sessions that Bazeley was scouted by Watford, trialling with them before signing at the age of 14. Watford's youth team coach Colin Lee was appointed the club's manager in March 1990 and he gave Bazeley his first-team debut in the final match of the 1989–90 season, bringing the 17-year-old on as a substitute against Hull City. Bazeley made 10 appearances in the 1990–91 campaign, all bar two as a substitute, and none after Lee was replaced by Steve Perryman in November 1990.

Bazeley signed his first professional contract prior to the start of the 1991–92 season and in September 1991 scored his first senior goal in a 3–0 win away at Barnsley. He finished the campaign with a total of seven goals from his 38 appearances. At the end of the season, Bazeley made his only appearance for the England under-21 team, playing 20 minutes in a 2-2 friendly draw against Hungary. Bazeley played 26 matches in the 1992–93 season, half of them from the bench. Watford began the following season under a new manager in Glenn Roeder, but a medial collateral ligament saw Bazeley only make a total of 10 appearances in the campaign. He was a more frequent presence in 1994–95, making 37 appearances and scoring four goals - a hatrick in 4–0 win at Southend United in early February and one in the subsequent match, a 2–0 home win over Burnley.

Bazeley was a regular in the side in the following two seasons, making over 40 league appearances in each. The 1995–96 season saw Watford relegated in the final match of the campaign, before finishing 13th in the Second Division the following year. In 1997–98, Bazeley only made three appearances before 28 February, but after returning to the side with two substitute appearances he would start every remaining match as Watford won the league title under manager Graham Taylor. Having appeared sporadically initially in 1998–99, Bazeley was an ever present from 20 October as Watford reached the First Division play-offs. Bazeley played the full match in both semi-final legs against Birmingham City, scoring the fourth penalty in Watford's shootout victory, and in the final at Wembley, which Watford won 2–0 to gain promotion to the Premiership.

Wolverhampton Wanderers
In the summer of 1999, Bazeley rejected a new contract at Watford. He chose to move on a free transfer to First Division club Wolverhampton Wanderers, who were managed by Colin Lee. He played every minute of every league match for Wolves in the 1999–2000 season. On 23 December 2001, he twisted his knee and tore cartilage in a match against Sheffield Wednesday. The match would prove to be his last for Wolves, as the injury kept him out of the remainder of the season and all of the 2001–02 campaign. In total, Bazeley made 80 appearances for the club, scoring four goals.

Walsall
In July 2002, Bazeley moved to First Division club Walsall, again working under Lee. Bazeley won the fans' "best new signing" award in 2002–03 season as Walsall finished 17th, their highest-place finish for 41 years. The club suffered relegation in 2003–04 and Bazeley left Walsall in November 2004. He had made 100 appearances for the club and was later described as "one of the best attacking fullbacks the Saddlers ever had."

New Zealand Knights
Bazeley signed with the re-invented New Zealand Knights for the new Australian A-League, alongside former Wolves and Walsall teammate Neil Emblen. Bazeley played every minute of the club's 21 A-League matches in the 2005–06 season, and took over the captaincy from Danny Hay when the defender transferred to Perth Glory mid-season. Bazeley stayed with the Knights for 2006–07 until the club's dissolution.

Bazeley played for Waitakere United in the New Zealand Football Championship in 2007–08 season, winning the league title. He also represented the club at the 2007 FIFA Club World Cup in Japan, where Waitakere lost 3–1 in the play-off round to Iranian side Sepahan.

Coaching career
Bazeley holds the UEFA A License.

Waitakere United
In 2008, Bazeley became head coach of Waitakere United youth team. He became assistant of the club's senior team in June 2009, working under his former Wolves teammate Emblen, the side's head coach. The club winning the New Zealand Football Championship for all three seasons.

New Zealand set-up
In 2009, Bazeley was appointed assistant coach for the New Zealand U-17 national team. The side played at the 2009 FIFA U-17 World Cup in Nigeria, reaching the competition's knock-out stages for the first time. Having continued in the role through the 2011 FIFA U-17 World Cup in Mexico, where the side again reached the knock-out phases, Bazeley was appointed head coach of the team in June 2012. In April 2013 his side won all five matches at the 2013 OFC U-17 Championship to qualify for the 2013 FIFA U-17 World Cup in the United Arab Emirates.

In September 2013, Bazeley was appointed as head coach of the New Zealand U-20 national team, but he remained in charge of the U-17s for the World Cup the following month, in which New Zealand lost all three matches to finish bottom of their group. New Zealand were the host nation of the 2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup and so did not need to qualify. During the build-up to the tournament, Bazeley was appointed head coach of Wanderers SC, an U-20-side competing in the senior New Zealand Football Championship, while in March 2015 he worked as assistant coach of the New Zealand national team for the first time.

At the 2015 U-20 World Cup, New Zealand beat Myanmar 5–1 in their final group game, their first ever win in the competition. They qualified for the knock-out stages as one of the best-ranked third-place teams, the first time they had reached that stage in the competition. In the round of 16 they lost 2–1 to Portugal, who scored an 87th-minute winner.

Bazeley led the U-20 team to a victory at 2016 OFC U-20 Championship in Vanuatu, qualifying for the 2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup in South Korea. At the finals Bazeley's side again reached the knock-out stages, finishing second in their group and securing a 3–1 win against Honduras. They were defeated 6–0 in the round of 16 by the United States.

Bazeley continued to work with the senior side as they won at the 2016 OFC Nations Cup and played at the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup in Russia. In September 2017 the side won the third round of OFC qualifying to reach the OFC–CONMEBOL play-off. New Zealand lost the two-legged play-off, held in November 2017, 2–0 on aggregate to Peru to miss out on qualification for the 2018 FIFA World Cup. By the time of the play-off, Bazeley was the only assistant coach working with head coach Anthony Hudson, following the departures of Peter Taylor and Alex Armstrong.

Colorado Rapids
Following the play-off defeat Hudson was appointed head coach of Major League Soccer side Colorado Rapids and in December 2017 Bazeley was appointed his assistant head coach.

Newcastle Jets and return to New Zealand set-up
In April 2020 Bazeley joined A-League side Newcastle Jets as assistant coach to his former Wolves teammate Carl Robinson. In October 2020 he left the role to return to the position of New Zealand U-20 head coach and assistant coach of the national and Olympic sides. Bazeley cited the travel conditions as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and his family in New Zealand as factors in his departure from Newcastle.

Personal life
Bazeley became a New Zealand citizen in 2015 retaining his British Citizenship.

Honours

New Zealand U-20
 Qualification for FIFA U-20 World Cup 2015 in New Zealand: Round of 16
 OFC U-20 Championship: 2016 champion
 Qualification for FIFA U-20 World Cup 2017 in Republic of Korea: Round of 16

New Zealand
 Qualification for FIFA Confederations Cup 2017 in Russia
 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification OFC Finals winner

References

External links

1972 births
Living people
Footballers from Northampton
English men's footballers
England men's under-21 international footballers
Men's association football fullbacks
New Zealand Knights FC players
Walsall F.C. players
Watford F.C. players
Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. players
A-League Men players
Waitakere United players
Expatriate men's association footballers in New Zealand
English expatriate sportspeople in New Zealand
Naturalised citizens of New Zealand
British emigrants to New Zealand

Darren Bazeley


Li Guohao (; born 13 Apr 1913 in Mei County, Guangdong; died 23 Feb 2005 in Shanghai) was a Chinese structural engineer and bridge engineering expert, known as Suspension Bridge Li. His method of calculation, with a high degree of precision although of extreme complexity, can cut down the cost of engineering and promote bridge stability. Li also served as Chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) of Shanghai, making him a politician of provincial-ministerial rank.

Biography
At the age of 16, Li, the son of a poor farming family, completed the preparatory course for Tongji University in Shanghai and started studying civil engineering there in 1931, graduating with distinction in 1936. Just one year later, Li took over the seminars for steelwork and steel bridges from his German predecessor – in those days Tongji University had many visiting German scientists on its staff, including Erich Wilfried Reuleaux (1883-1967), professor for railways and transport in Darmstadt (Germany), who was in China from 1934 to 1937.

Furnished with a scholarship from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, Li started his research work under Kurt Klöppel at TU Darmstadt in the autumn of 1938. He was awarded a doctorate in 1940 for his groundbreaking dissertation on the practical calculation of suspension bridges according to second-order theory.  Together, Klöppel and Li published further research findings on the quantitative analysis of suspension bridges. Turning to stability theory, during the drafting of DIN 4114 (German Standard of stability of steel structures), the excellent article appeared on the sufficient criterion for the branching point of elastic equilibrium, which Klöppel and Li explained using the example of the buckling of struts – and their theoretical findings also applied to overturning, plate buckling and torsional-flexural buckling. Li submitted his habilitation thesis to the Faculty of Construction at Darmstadt TH in January 1942.

After the war, he returned to Shanghai, to take up a post as professor at Tongji University in 1946. While there, he wrote textbooks on the design of steel structures (1952), steel bridges (1952) and bridge dynamics (1955). Li was elected a member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 1955. One year later he became pro-rector of Tongji University and established the Faculty of Applied Mechanics, where he lectured in structural dynamics and the mechanics of plates and shells. Li already had a reputation as a bridges engineer by now and influenced the design of several bridges over the Yangtze. Like many intellectuals, Li was ostracised as a reactionary scientific force during China's Cultural Revolution (1966-1976), but was rehabilitated in 1977 and became rector of his Alma Mater. Li remained productive even during the Cultural Revolution.

During the 1980s, Li wrote books on earthquake engineering (1980), engineering works subjected to explosions (1989) and, of course, the calculation of bridges (1988). The 1980s can be quite rightly called the preparatory phase for the building of large bridges in China, with Li as its founding father. Li Guohao participated in several famous bridge designs and constructions such as Chengdu-Kunming Railway Bridge and Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge. His services to scientific-technical developments were acknowledged by numerous awards, e.g. the Goethe Medal (1982), honorary doctorates from Tongji University (1984) and TU Darmstadt (1985), member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering Sciences (1994) and the Ho Leung Ho Lee Prize (1995).

Due to his outstanding achievements, Li was rated as one of top 10 world-famous bridge experts by the International Association for Bridge and Structural Engineering in 1981.

Works
 with Kurt Klöppel: Hängebrücken mit besonderer Stützbedingung des Versteifungsträgers, in: Der Stahlbau 13 (1940), No. 21/22, pp. 109-116. (in German)
 Praktische Berechnung von Hängebrücken nach der Theorie II. Ordnung. Einfeldrige und durchlaufende Versteifungsträger mit konstantem und veränderlichen Trägheitsmoment, in: Der Stahlbau  14 (1941), No. 14/15, pp. 65-69 & No. 16/18, pp. 78-84. (in German)
 with Kurt Klöppel: Berechnung von Hängebrücken nach der Theorie II. Ordnung unter Berücksichtigung der Nachgiebigkeit der Hänger, in: Der Stahlbau 14 (1941), No. 19/20, pp. 85-88. (in German)
 with Kurt Klöppel: Das hinreichende Kriterium für den Verzweigungspunkt des elastischen Gleichgewichts, in: Der Stahlbau 16 (1943), No. 6/7, pp. 17-21. (in German)
 Ermittlung der Einflußlinien von Stabwerken auf geometrischem Wege, in: Der Stahlbau 16 (1943), No. 12/13, pp. 45-52 & No. 14/16, pp. 58-64. (in German)
 with Kurt Klöppel: Das hinreichende Kriterium für den Verzweigungspunkt des elastischen Gleichgewichts, in: Der Stahlbau 16 (1943), No. 6/7, pp. 17-21. (in German)
 Analysis of Box Girder and Truss Bridges. Berlin/Heidelberg: Springer-Verlag 1988.
 with A. Chen, A., 2001. Neuere Großbrücken in China, in: Stahlbau 70 (2001), No. 9, pp. 661-666. (in German)

References

1913 births
2005 deaths
Chinese bridge engineers
Chinese structural engineers
Commanders Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
Engineers from Guangdong
Hakka scientists
Members of the Chinese Academy of Engineering
Members of the Chinese Academy of Sciences
People from Meixian District
People's Republic of China politicians from Guangdong
Politicians from Meizhou
Presidents of Tongji University
Scientists from Guangdong
Tongji University alumni

Li Guohao


The Battle of Nuremberg was a five-day battle between the forces of the United States 7th Army on one side, and Nazi Germany and Russian Liberation Army volunteers on the other during the last days of World War II. The battle saw some of the fiercest urban combat during the war and it took four days for the United States to capture the city. The battle was a blow to Nazi Germany as Nuremberg was a center of the Nazi regime. The Nuremberg Rallies took place in the city and to lose the city to the Americans took a heavy toll on already low German morale. Even though American forces heavily outnumbered the German forces, it wasn't until 20 April, that the 7th Army took the city center. The battle devastated the city.

Background
The Western Allies invaded Germany from the west on 8 February 1945. The German Army took heavy losses as the Allied armies crossed the Rhine and surrounded the Ruhr area as the Soviet armies pushed from the east. By April the US and Soviet armies were closing in on each other, constricting an already narrow gap of German-controlled territory running from Berlin to Munich and including Nuremberg. As the 12th Army Group continued to push east towards Berlin, the 6th Army Group received orders to push into southern Germany and into Austria. Despite the heavier resistance from the German Army in the south as compared to the north, the US 7th Army broke out of its bridgehead on the Rhine south of Frankfurt on 28 March. After fierce fighting, the 7th Army captured Aschaffenburg in Bavaria on 3 April and Heilbronn in Württemberg on 12 April, which left Nuremberg wide open to American attack. On 12 April the German High Command ordered the unconditional defense of all cities and Hitler placed Reich Defense Commissioner and Gauleiter of Franconia Karl Holz in charge of the German forces around Nuremberg. On 15 April the 7th Army advanced towards Nuremberg, rapidly capturing Bamberg in the process. As the 7th Army neared Nuremberg, Holz ordered setting up anti-tank barriers as well as anti-aircraft guns around the old city. Holz's forces were heavily outnumbered, but he still believed that "the Americans would break sooner or later".

The battle
By 16 April, the 7th Army had begun its assault on Nuremberg, not from the west as Holz expected, but from the east and northeast. By the end of the day, the Americans had captured the outskirts of Erlenstegen and Buch. Arthur Schoeddert, a constable of anti-aircraft artillery, failed to execute Hitler's orders to blow up electricity, gas and water plants in the city.

By 17 April, the 7th Army captured the marshaling yard and the surrounding area as well as the Veilhofstrasse and Woehrd neighborhoods. By evening, the airport to the north was captured and US artillery began to shell the old city. American troops met fierce resistance around the old city on 18 April, which destroyed and damaged many buildings around the old city, including the historic Nuremberg Castle. On 18 April, as American artillery continued to shell the old city, U.S. troops were able to reach the old city via the Burgschmietstrasse.

On 20 April, the 3rd Infantry Division under the command of Major General John W. O'Daniel and the 45th Infantry Division under Major General Robert T. Frederick laid siege to the old city. German resistance was so great that American heavy artillery and air support was deployed. Holz ordered his men to continue to fight. Holz himself was trapped in the police station in the old city, but continued to resist. After American troops gave him four chances for a peaceful surrender, he was killed while American troops overran the building. After Holz's death, second-in-command Colonel Wolf realised that the city could no longer be held. At 11:00 he ordered all German troops in the area to surrender. On the evening of 20 April, the American flag was hoisted at Adolf Hitler Platz, formally ending the battle.

References

Battles of World War II involving the United States
Battles of World War II involving Germany
Western Allied invasion of Germany
20th century in Nuremberg
April 1945 events in Europe
1945 in Germany
Conflicts in 1945

Battle of Nuremberg (1945)


Symplocos thwaitesii, or the buff hazelwood, is a rainforest tree growing in eastern Australia. Seen in tropical, sub-tropical and warm temperate rainforests, often in gullies. Occasionally it grows in cooler situations such as at Monga National Park.

The range of natural distribution is from Orbost (37° S) in the state of Victoria up the east coast of New South Wales to the Atherton Tableland (17° S) in tropical Queensland.

Description

A small to medium-sized tree, up to 30 metres tall and 80 cm in diameter. Usually much smaller, particularly in New South Wales where it is mostly seen between 6 and 12 metres in height. In Victoria it can grow to 22 metres high, with a trunk diameter of 57 cm.

The trunk is straight and cylindrical, without buttresses or fluting. The bark is fairly smooth; dark brown in colour. Sometimes with vertical rows of bumps. Flaking plates of bark and vertical cracks may be seen on larger trees.

Leaves
Leaves alternate, firm, heavy and toothed, but not toothed at the base. The leaf serration is more evident and more widely spaced than in the white hazelwood. The leathery leaves "rattle" together when a branch is shaken. The leaf shape is elliptic or wide lanceolate 12 to 18 cm long to a short leaf tip.

Leaf venation is easily noticed, particularly on the underside. Net veins are not clearly evident above the leaf, better seen under the leaf. The paler coloured midrib is sunken on the top leaf surface, and raised under the leaf. The leaf stalk is 10 to 15 mm long, flattened on the top side and but rounded underneath.

Flowers and fruit

The greenish white flowers form on racemes; occasionally the flowers turn bluish-black. Flowering occurs between the months of September to December, although these trees may flower at other times such as between May and June. Flowers are relatively large, 9 to 15 mm long, giving rise to an alternative common name large-flowered hazelwood. Another distinguishing feature is that the flowers of the similar white hazelwood are on panicles, not racemes as is the case in this species.

The fruit is a drupe, 12 to 14 mm long, purplish-black and egg-shaped, maturing in January to March. The five sepals persist on the fruit, but not the floral bracts. The fruit is eaten by the green catbird. Fresh seed should be used for regeneration, after the removal of the aril.

References

  (other publication details, included in citation)
 Symplocos thwaitesii at NSW Flora Online Retrieved 4 August 2009

thwaitesii
Ericales of Australia
Trees of Australia
Flora of New South Wales
Flora of Victoria (state)
Flora of Queensland
Trees of mild maritime climate
Taxa named by Ferdinand von Mueller

Symplocos thwaitesii


Manchuria under Qing rule was the rule of the Qing dynasty (and its predecessor the Later Jin dynasty) over Manchuria, including today's Manchuria/Northeast China and Outer Manchuria. The Qing dynasty itself was established by the Manchus, a Tungusic people from Manchuria, who later replaced the Ming dynasty as the ruling dynasty of China. Thus, Manchuria is often seen to have had a special status during the Qing and was not governed as regular provinces until the late Qing dynasty.

History

The Qing dynasty was founded not by Han Chinese, who form the majority of the Chinese population, but by a sedentary farming people known as the Jurchen, a Tungusic people who lived around the region now comprising the Chinese provinces of Jilin and Heilongjiang. Although the Ming dynasty held control over Manchuria since the late 1380s, Ming political existence in the region waned considerably after the death of the Yongle Emperor. What was to become the Manchu state was founded by Nurhaci, the chieftain of a minor Jurchen tribe in Jianzhou in the early 17th century. Originally a vassal of the Ming emperors, Nurhaci started to take actual control of most of Manchuria over the next several decades. In 1616, he declared himself the "Bright Khan" of the Later Jin state. Two years later he announced the "Seven Grievances" and openly renounced the sovereignty of Ming overlordship to complete the unification of those Jurchen tribes still allied with the Ming emperor. After a series of successful battles against both the Ming and various tribes in Outer Manchuria, he and his son Hong Taiji eventually controlled the whole of Manchuria. Soon after the establishment of the Qing dynasty, the territory of today's Primorsky Kray was made part of the Government-general of Jilin, and along with the lower Amur area was controlled from Ninguta (a garrison town south of today's Mudanjiang).

However, during the Qing conquest of the Ming in the later decades, the Tsardom of Russia tried to gain the land north of the Amur River. The Russian conquest of Siberia was accompanied by massacres due to indigenous resistance to colonization by the Russian Cossacks, who savagely crushed the natives. At the hands of people like Vasilii Poyarkov in 1645 and Yerofei Khabarov in 1650 some peoples like the Daur were slaughtered by the Russians to the extent that it is considered genocide. The Daurs initially deserted their villages since they heard about the cruelty of the Russians the first time Khabarov came. The second time he came, the Daurs decided to do battle against the Russians instead but were slaughtered by Russian guns. The indigenous peoples of the Amur region were attacked by Russians who came to be known as "red-beards". The Russian Cossacks were named luocha (羅剎), after demons found in Buddhist mythology, by the Amur natives because of their cruelty towards the Amur tribes people, who were subjects of the Qing. The Russian proselytization of Orthodox Christianity to the indigenous peoples along the Amur River was viewed as a threat by the Qing. This was eventually rebutted by the Qing during the Sino-Russian border conflicts in the 1680s, resulting in the Treaty of Nerchinsk in 1689 which gave the land to China.

Since the region was considered the homeland of the Manchus, Han Chinese citizens were banned from settling in this region by the early Qing government but the rule was openly violated and Han Chinese became a majority in urban areas by the early 19th century. During Qing rule there was an massively increasing amount of Han Chinese both illegally and legally streaming into Manchuria and settling down to cultivate land as Manchu landlords desired Han Chinese peasants to rent on their land and grow grain, most Han Chinese migrants were not evicted as they went over the Great Wall and Willow Palisade, during the eighteenth century Han Chinese farmed 500,000 hectares of privately owned land in Manchuria and 203,583 hectares of lands which were part of coutrier stations, noble estates, and Banner lands, in garrisons and towns in Manchuria Han Chinese made up 80% of the population. Although those areas do not appear similar to the provinces in China proper, Qing Dynasty also called them "Eastern three provinces" ( dergi ilan golo; ).

Han Chinese farmers were resettled from North China by the Qing to the area along the Liao River in order to restore the land to cultivation. Wasteland was reclaimed by Han Chinese squatters in addition to other Han who rented land from Manchu landlords. Despite officially prohibiting Han Chinese settlement on the Manchu and Mongol lands, by the 18th century the Qing decided to settle Han refugees from northern China who were suffering from famine, floods, and drought into Manchuria and Inner Mongolia so that Han Chinese farmed 500,000 hectares in Manchuria and tens of thousands of hectares in Inner Mongolia by the 1780s. The Qianlong Emperor allowed Han Chinese peasants suffering from drought to move into Manchuria despite him issuing edicts in favor of banning them from 1740 to 1776. Chinese tenant farmers rented or even claimed title to land from the "imperial estates" and Manchu Bannerlands in the area. Besides moving into the Liao area in southern Manchuria, the path linking Jinzhou, Fengtian, Tieling, Changchun, Hulun, and Ningguta was settled by Han Chinese during the Qianlong Emperor's reign, and Han Chinese were the majority in urban areas of Manchuria by 1800. To increase the Imperial Treasury's revenue, the Qing sold formerly Manchu only lands along the Sungari to Han Chinese at the beginning of the Daoguang Emperor's reign, and Han Chinese filled up most of Manchuria's towns by the 1840s according to Abbe Huc. However, the policy for banning the Han Chinese citizens from moving to northern part of Manchuria was not officially lifted until 1860, when Outer Manchuria was lost to the Russians during the Amur Annexation by the Russian Empire. After that, the Qing court started to encourage immigration of Han Chinese into the region, which began the period of Chuang Guandong.

After conquering the Ming, the Qing identified their state as Zhongguo ("中國", the term for "China" in modern Chinese), and referred to it as "Dulimbai Gurun" in Manchu. "China" thus referred to the Qing in official documents, international treaties, and foreign affairs. The lands in Manchuria were explicitly stated by the Qing to belong to "China" (Zhongguo, Dulimbai gurun) in Qing edicts and in the 1689 Treaty of Nerchinsk.

In Manchuria in 1800 the rich Han Chinese merchants stood at the top of the social ladder, just below the high-ranking banner officers, with whom they had many social, cultural and business relationship - merchant and officers often meeting one another on terms of equality. Han Chinese society in Manchuria was an uprooted society of immigrants, most of whom, except in Fengtian (Liaoning), had lived where they were for only a number of decades. Although the settlers had come mainly from Zhili, Shandong and Shanxi and had brought with them many of the social patterns of those provinces, the immigrants derived from the poorer and less educated elements of society, with the result that at the beginning of the nineteenth century a "gentry" class of the type known in China proper - families of education, wealth and prestige who had exercised social leadership in a given locality for generations - had only recently come into being in Fengtian province and cannot be said to have existed in the Manchurian frontier at all. At the bottom of the society were the unskilled workmen, domestic servants, prostitutes and exiled convicts, including slaves. One of the capacities in which Manchuria, especially Jilin and Heilongjiang, had served the Qing Empire was as a place of exile, not only for disgraced officials but also for convicted criminals. The worse the crimes and the more hardened the offenders, the farther north the Qing judicial system generally sent them. Many of these criminals took up crafts or small businesses, eventually becoming dependable members of society, but their presence in increasing numbers added to the lawless, rough-and-ready character of Manchurian frontier society.

Manchuria from the early to middle Qing period was governed by the military governors of Fengtian, Jilin and Heilongjiang. In both Jilin and Heilongjiang, most of whose territories were not easily accessible, there lived a considerable Han Chinese outlaw population. The numbers of these outlaws had grown rapidly in the eighteenth century, and continued to grow in the nineteenth. Some of them, especially the goldminers and bandits, formed organized communities with rudimentary local governments. Groups of outlaw ginseng-diggers, known as "blackmen", in the forests and mountains beyond the reach of the Manchurian authorities, so disturbed the tribal frontier areas that in 1811 the military governor of Jilin had to send troops into the mountains to drive them out. By the opening decade of the nineteenth century the sinicization of Manchuria was already irreversibly advanced. Fengtian province had for some time been essentially Han Chinese and part of China, and the military governors of Jilin and Heilongjiang, though charged with the duty of upholding the supremacy of the banner element in society, had failed to preserve the status quo. The bannermen, who lacked the industry and technical skills of the Han Chinese settlers, were concerned only with holding on to what they had. Despite repeated government measures, the bannermen were rapidly becoming pauperized, and they grew increasingly dependent upon subsidies from the Qing government. The culturally dynamic example, which more and more of them began to emulate, was that of the Han Chinese. As time went on, not only the bannermen but also many of the tribal peoples began to adopt Chinese culture and fall into the orbit of Han tastes, Han markets and Han ways of doing things. Only the cold and sparsely populated Amur basin, which had not attracted settlers from China, remained essentially outside the Chinese sphere.

At the end of the 19th century and turn of the 20th century, to counteract increasing Russian influence, the Qing dynasty abolished the existing administrative system in Manchuria (created by the bannermen) and reclassified all immigrants to the region as Han (Chinese) instead of minren (民人, civilians, non-bannermen), while replacing provincial generals with provincial governors. This reform occurred when Manchuria was a battleground between Russia and Japan. From 1902 to 1911, seventy civil administrations were created due to the increasing population of Manchuria.

After the loss of the Outer Manchuria to the Russians and the Russo-Japanese War, Manchuria was eventually turned into provinces by the late Qing government in the early 20th century, similar to Xinjiang which was converted into a province earlier. Manchuria became officially known as the "Three Northeast Provinces" (東三省), and the Qing established the post of Viceroy of the Three Northeast Provinces to oversee these provinces, which was the only Qing viceroy that had jurisdiction outside China proper.

See also
 Manchuria under Yuan rule
 Manchuria under Ming rule
 Qing dynasty in Inner Asia
 Mongolia under Qing rule
 Xinjiang under Qing rule
 Tibet under Qing rule
 Taiwan under Qing rule
 History of Manchuria

References

History of Qing dynasty by region
History of Manchuria
1616 establishments in Asia
Eight Banners

Manchuria under Qing rule


Peter Parker, known as Spider-Man, is a fictional character who appears in some movies in the Marvel Cinematic Universe such as Captain America: Civil War, Spider-Man: Homecoming, Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame, Spider-Man: Far From Home, and Spider-Man: No Way Home. He is based on the Marvel Comics superhero of the same name and is played by Tom Holland. This is the third time Spider-Man has been played in the movies, following after Tobey Maguire's portrayal in Sam Raimi's film series and Andrew Garfield's portrayal in Marc Webb's The Amazing Spider-Man movies.

Fictional biography
Peter Parker is a teenager in New York City who has had spider-like abilities for a while. He lives with his Aunt May and is best friends with Ned Leeds. One day, Tony Stark, the president of Stark Industries who also serves as Iron Man, comes to visit him and Aunt May. Mr. Stark recruits Peter, who he has figured out is Spider-Man, to fight alongside some other superheroes during a dispute with Captain America. Peter continues to work with Stark as an intern for the Avengers, gaining the technology needed to improve his suit and equipment, but after getting in trouble with Mr. Stark, must fight the criminal known as "The Vulture" alone, regaining Stark's respect.

As Spider-Man, Peter goes on to fight alongside Iron Man, Captain America, and other members of the Avengers when Thanos threatens their universe. The first time around, Thanos kills half of the universe's inhabitants, which unfortunately includes Peter. However, Peter and everyone else who was killed is brought back to life after Stark and the remaining Avengers figure out how to undo "the Snap". The Avengers defeat and kill Thanos the second time around, but Mr. Stark and some of the other Avengers die in the effort and cannot be brought back to life this time.

After Mr. Stark's death, Peter becomes very sad but vows to become stronger to honor him. He and Ned go on a class trip to London where he becomes close with another classmate, MJ, who becomes his girlfriend. Peter also encounters Quentin Beck, who initially seems like a good person and calls himself Mysterio, but is actually a scientist who used to work for Stark's company and was fired due to being crazy. After Peter is tricked into giving some technology to Mysterio, Ned and MJ give him clues on how to stop Mysterio. Peter has to rescue the two from Mysterio and defeats him, but Mysterio leaks Peter's identity as Spider-Man to the public and tricks "newscaster" J. Jonah Jameson into thinking that Peter/Spider-Man killed Mysterio and caused all the damage.

Peter is later found not guilty, but his fame as Spider-Man negatively affects his life, as well as those of Ned, MJ, and Aunt May. He goes to Dr. Stephen Strange to try and make everyone forget he is Spider-Man, but due to trying to make some last-minute changes to have MJ, Ned, and Aunt May remember, the spell backfires and brings a few villains from other universes who know Peter is Spider-Man into this universe. Dr. Strange is mad and wants Peter, MJ, and Ned to find the villains, but after learning that the villains will most likely die fighting their versions of Spider-Man, Peter fights with Dr. Strange over this and wants to make the villains good again. He cures Doc Ock, but the Green Goblin, who has two personalities, has his bad personality come out and free the villains, also killing Aunt May. Peter's friends, as well as two other versions of himself from the other universes, "Peter Two" and "Peter Three", make him feel better and help him track down and cure all the bad guys. The only way everything can be fixed now is if Peter has everyone forget who he is, even his friends and family, but Peter says it's okay to Dr. Strange, saying goodbye to MJ and Ned but promising to find them. After the spell is fixed and sends everyone home, Peter goes on his own way as Spider-Man.

Reception
Tom Holland's portrayal of a teenaged Spider-Man in the films has been mixed, as they praised his suit and performance while others criticizied for being annoying and childish.

References

Fictional characters introduced in 2016
Fictional orphans
Marvel Comics mutates
Marvel Comics superheroes
Spider-Man movie characters

Peter Parker (Marvel Cinematic Universe)


In-house software is computer software for business use within an organization. In-house software can be developed by the organization itself or by someone else, or it could be acquired. In-house software however may later become available for commercial use upon sole discretion of the developing organization. The need to develop such software may arise depending on many circumstances which may be non-availability of the software in the market, potentiality or ability of the corporation to develop such software or to customize a software based on the corporate organization's need.

References
Software by type

In-house software


is a line of spinning-top toys originally developed by Takara, first released in Japan in July 1999, along with its debut series. Following Takara's merger with Tomy in 2006, Beyblades are now developed by Takara Tomy. Various toy companies around the world have licensed Beyblade toys for their own regions, including Hasbro in Western countries, Sonokong in Korea, and Takara Tomy for Eastern countries.

Both the toys and their names were inspired by , a traditional Japanese spinning top. The concept is similar to Battling Tops, a board game developed by Ideal Toy Company in 1968. The toy line was introduced with an accompanying manga series of the same name in 1999. In 2002, Hasbro began to sell Beyblade toys internationally (under license from Takara) along with a coordinated country-by-country release of localized versions of the TV series. On July 12, 2008, Takara Tomy released Metal Fight: Beyblade, the second incarnation of the toy. The third incarnation, titled Beyblade Burst, was released by Takara Tomy on July 18, 2015. The fourth incarnation of the toyline, Beyblade X, was released on July 15, 2023.

Game and rules
Aside from informal play, a game with specific rules was published for the initial toy line. The formal game is played with two or more players. Each player is allowed up to three Beyblades, but may not switch parts once a match has started. Players may choose from any of the three Beyblades they have with them for any battle in a match.

In Metal Fight Beyblade, a points system was introduced.

Points are awarded to a player based on how their Beyblade looks because some Beyblades' names vary depending on the region; the following use the Hasbro terminology followed by the Takara Tomy ones.
 One point is awarded if the opponent's Beyblade stops spinning (Sleep Out/Survivor/Spin Finish/KO/Knockout Finish).
 One point is awarded if the opponent's Beyblade is knocked out of the stadium or falls into a pocket in the stadium (Stadium Out/Ring Out/Over Finish).
 Beginning with Beyblade Burst, two points are awarded if the opponent's top is "burst" during a battle (Crash Out/Burst Finish).

In the event of a draw (both Beyblades are knocked out of the ring, stop spinning simultaneously, or burst at the same time), no points are awarded to either player.

Types
Three of the main types of Beyblades have rock-paper-scissors style effectiveness, with Attack generally being weak to Defense, Defense to Stamina, and Stamina to Attack. However, due to the high variability of the custom designs, this is not a hard rule. Balance types may be strong or weak to any of the others depending on specific parts.

 Attack
 Attack Beyblades specialize in attacking other Beyblades. They are used to knock out other Beyblade quickly at the cost of having poor stamina. They tend to outperform Stamina-type Beyblades, which have a lack of defense. Attack-type Beyblades are heavy as to be able to knock others out. They usually have flat or rubber performance tips and have layers that can grip the opponent.
 Defense
 Defense Beyblades are used to knock back attacks. They tend to travel slowly and are heavier than other types, resulting in opponents being deflected. Their weight also causes them to launch slower, resulting in less stamina. They tend to wear down Attack-types but are outlasted by Stamina. They tend to be made of thicker metals and have wide ball-like performance tips.
 Stamina
 Stamina Beyblades attempt to outlast opposing Beyblades. They are used to out-spin the enemy Beyblade. In exchange for a lack of power, they can outlast other types of Beyblades, making them naturally advantageous over Defense-Types, which focus on resisting hits. They have sharp cone-shaped performance tips.
 Balance
 These Beyblades specialize in a combination of the other three types listed above, giving them no glaring strengths or weaknesses. Regardless of their strength, they combine Attack, Defense, and Stamina Types but do not excel at any of them. Some Balance Types have Attack, Defense, and Stamina Modes, and their performance tips can vary.

Beybattle
An arena called a Beystadium is sold by both brands Takara Tomy and Hasbro. It is primarily a shallow plastic bowl but may have other features dependent on the purpose of the particular stadium.
Different stadiums were released in different markets. Brands Takara Tomy and Sonokong produce Beystadiums similar to those featured in the manga and anime adaptations, with open sections in the walls and openings on the sides to launch into. Hasbro produces stadiums with walls that are about 3.7 inches tall and pockets that count as a ring-out instead.

Common features of a Beystadium include a shallow impression called a cyclone/tornado ridge, which allows Attack type Beyblades to move around quickly without accidentally knocking themselves out, and cyclone/tornado's points, which are recessed disks in the stadium floor that spin freely to add randomness to a battle. Other features may be specific to the series that the Beystadium is released in, like the rails from the Beyblade Burst Slingshock toy system, the large, almost bowl-like HyperSphere toy system, the noticeably taller Speedstorm toy system, and QuadDrive toy system, which features a Low Mode and High Mode not unlike its Takara Tomy counterpart along with a detachable, separate Armor tip on the driver, and the similar QuadStrike toy system, the Armor Tips and Stadiums of which are similar to drivers from the HyperSphere system.

Launching
A Beyblade Launcher (often referred to as a BeyLauncher) is used to launch the user's Beyblade into battle. Select launchers have different levels of power depending on the gears inside of them and the user's own launch strength. Launchers differ in size and shape, with some of them using Ripcords (long sticks of plastic with grips on the end and teeth on the sides to strike the gears that launch the user's Beyblade when pulled) and others using Strings (launchers that are built with a retractable string inside of them that launch the user's Beyblade with slightly more power when pulled). String Launchers are preferred by most players because of their launch power. Different series such as 2000/Original, Metal Fight/Fusion, and Burst launchers cannot be used with others.

Launching is often accompanied by a catchphrase. In the Takara Tomy version, this would be ; in the Hasbro version, this would be "3, 2, 1, Let it Rip!"

Burst Series
These toys are designed so that the top may separate if it has sustained enough hits, which creates a "burst" due to a spring in the Performance Tip. The Burst System consists of 3 parts, the "Energy Layer," the "Forge Disc," and the "Driver/Performance Tip." For example, Victory Valkyrie B.V has the 'Victory Valkyrie' or 'V2' Energy Layer, 'Boost' Forge Disc, and a 'Variable' Driver.

Toys R Us started distributing this system in Canada in September 2016 and Hasbro started distributing the toys in the United States in January 2017.

As the longest-running Beyblade series, Burst has had considerably more subsystems than its predecessors. These are:

 The Dual Layer system, where the layers are made of two inseparable plastic parts.
The God Layer/SwitchStrike system, where each "layer" has its own gimmick, and the introduction of the core discs: discs that can now be attached to plastic parts called frames that add weight to the bey and features their own characteristics.
 Takara Tomy's Cho-Z Layer system, in which every "layer" features metal, increasing their weight.
 The SlingShock system, Hasbro's counterpart to the Cho-Z system, featuring tops with different modes, designed to climb rails when switched to SlingShock mode. All beys excluding Dread Hades and Breaker Xcalius, however, lacked the metal found in their TT counterparts. This system marked a turning point; Hasbro would start to do their own systems rather than releasing the same beys as Takara Tomy in their main line.
 The GT Layer system (GaTinko Layer System), which was released by Takara Tomy and featured customizable "layers," altering performance. Many "discs" in this system also began to have their own gimmicks.
 Hasbro's HyperSphere system, released as a counterpart to the GT system, features large, bowl-shaped "performance tips" designed to climb special HyperSphere walls and strike the other Beyblades while descending.
 Takara Tomy's Superking/Sparking system altered the construction of the tops by introducing "chassis," replacements for "forge discs" that heavily increased weight. In addition, new launchers were released, which gave off sparks when used.
 The SpeedStorm system (Hasbro's equivalent to the Superking/Sparking system), features taller tops designed to gain speed or change direction in the SpeedStorm BeyStadiums.
 The Dynamite Battle Layer system, once again features customizable "layers," this time with both a "high" and "low" mode, intended to shift the top's center of gravity. High mode is more aggressive and is easier to knock over. Low mode is more balanced and has more stamina.
The QuadDrive system was released from Hasbro in replacement of the Dynamite Battle layer system. These layers have plastic weights, instead of metal armours, that allow the Beyblade to switch from "Core" and "Apex mode". Their drivers also feature additional pieces (called Armour Tips) that increase the height and variation of how the Beyblade moves along the stadium. A new Stadium was also released that features levels of playing fields that alternate the bey's path.
The BU Layer system would be the most current iteration which features the same concept as the Beyblade Burst DB system but is a different line of Beyblades that are callbacks to previous fan favourites which never got an upgrade like Chain Kerbeus or Xiphoid Xcalibur. These Beys do not get an anime season release but can be assumed to be used by their original users from the God Series.
Just like the BU Layer system, the QuadStrike system is supposed to be an upgrade from the QuadDrive system, however, the Armor Tips now are large and bowl-like, similar to the HyperSphere Drivers.

Popularity

Beyblades were the "most sought-after toy for Christmas 2002" in the UK, and won the British Association of Toy Retailers award for "Toy of the year" in 2002. They were the top-selling battling toys in the US in 2011.

See also
 Battling Tops
 Spinja
 Lego Ninjago
 Spin Fighters
 Battle Strikers

References

External links

Hasbro products
2000s toys
Tops
Products introduced in 2000
2000s fads and trends
NewBoy

Beyblade


South Park is a neighborhood in Seattle, Washington. It is located just south of Georgetown across the Duwamish River, and just north of the city of Tukwila. Its main thoroughfares are West Marginal Way S. (northwest- and southeast-bound), S. Cloverdale Street (east- and westbound) and 14th Ave. S (north-and-south).  South Park connects to Georgetown by two bridges at 1st Ave S. at the northmost end of the neighborhood, and the South Park Bridge at the north end of 14th Ave. South. The South Park Bridge was closed on June 30, 2010, and reconstructed due to safety concerns. The newly constructed bridge reopened to traffic on June 30, 2014.

Surrounded by Seattle's industrial area, South Park's soil and air have been polluted; heavy metals have contaminated the top soil and the nearby Duwamish River has been known for unhealthy levels of toxic chemicals. The property values are lower than elsewhere in Seattle, though some see growth potential in the area. The neighborhood is also home to a large Hispanic community with a population that of 4,154 that is roughly 47% Latino, thus giving it the highest concentration of Hispanic residents in the city.

Former town

The Town of South Park was incorporated December 9, 1902 and the Town Council held its first meeting on December 23. South Park was served by three mayors in its four-and-one-half years of existence as an independent town: S. J. Bevan (1902–1903), G. C. Lingenfelter (1903–1905), and A. G. Breidenstein (1906–1907).

South Park was plagued by problems in securing adequate city services. Particularly vexing was the inability to obtain a decent water supply. Although the city of Georgetown owned water mains that ran through South Park, it refused to supply water to the latter, starting a bitter court battle over legal rights to the water. In 1905–1906, the town contracted with an independent water company, but in April 1906 the water was found to be contaminated because South Park did not have a sewer system. The Town Council petitioned Seattle to run Cedar River mains to the edge of the town and has had clean water since. The City of Seattle provides sewage services in modern South Park.

In October 1906, the electorate voted 131–59 for annexation to Seattle, but apparently no action was taken beyond the vote. On March 23, 1907, a second vote for annexation was 181–36 in favor and on May 3, 1907, South Park became part of the City of Seattle.

Past and present bridges

Prior to the straightening of the Duwamish River for the Duwamish Waterway, South Park was connected to Georgetown by an electric railway that crossed a north–south bridge at 8th Avenue and by an east–west road bridge on County Road a few blocks northeast of that. A bend in the river resulted in the South Park side of that road bridge actually being the east end, with the Georgetown side on the west.

After the Duwamish was straightened, a new bridge was built at 8th Avenue (now 8th Avenue South), and operated from 1914 to 1937.

The present South Park Bridge was a Scherzer Rolling Lift double-leaf bascule bridge, originally built in 1929–31. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It connects 16th Avenue S. in Georgetown to 14th Avenue S. in South Park. It was closed at the end of June 2010 for major reconstruction, including replacement of its bascule leaves. The new bridge opened to the public on June 30, 2014.

Just west of the bridge in South Park is a section of brick road that once led to an earlier bridge on more or less the same site. This brick road—one of the few remaining in Seattle—constitutes the northernmost portion of a road that once led from South Park to Des Moines, Washington; eight blocks south of the Duwamish, today's Des Moines Memorial Drive branches off of 14th Avenue S. leading uphill into unincorporated King County, the area commonly referred to as Boulevard Park.

Cesar Chavez Park

The neighborhood is home to Cesar Chavez Park.

References

External links

Former municipalities in Washington (state)

South Park, Seattle


Pieksämäki is a town in Southern Savonia, Finland. In Finland it is called a city. As of January 2014, almost 19,300 people lived there. Neighbouring municipalities are Hankasalmi, Joroinen, Juva, Kangasniemi, Leppävirta, Mikkeli, Rautalampi and Suonenjoki. Most people speak Finland.

Pieksämäki was established in 1930. It became a city in 1962.

The former municipality of Pieksänmaa was merged with Pieksämäki in 2007.

Other websites

 The official Pieksämäki page
 Culturesite, Poleeni

Municipalities of South Savo
1930 establishments in Europe
20th-century establishments in Finland

Pieksämäki


The Kansas City Steers were an American basketball team based in Kansas City, Missouri  from 1961 to 1963. They were a member of the American Basketball League

History

The American Basketball League played one full season, 1961–1962, and part of the next season until the league folded on December 31, 1962. The ABL was the first basketball league to have a three point shot for baskets scored far away from the goal. Other rules that set the league apart were a 30-second shooting clock and a wider free throw lane, 18 feet instead of the standard 12.

The American Basketball League was formed when Abe Saperstein did not get the Los Angeles National Basketball Association (NBA) franchise he sought. His Harlem Globetrotters had strong NBA ties.  When Minneapolis Lakers owner Bob Short was permitted to move the Lakers to Los Angeles, Saperstein reacted by convincing National Alliance of Basketball Leagues (NABL) team owner Paul Cohen (Tuck Tapers) and Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) National Champion Cleveland Pipers owner George Steinbrenner to take the top NABL and AAU teams and players and form a rival league.

League franchises were: the Chicago Majors (1961–1963); Cleveland Pipers (1961–1962); Kansas City Steers (1961–63); Long Beach Chiefs (1961–1963), as Hawaii Chiefs in 1961–62; Los Angeles Jets (1961–62, disbanded during season); Oakland Oaks (1961–1963, as San Francisco Saints in 1961–1962; Philadelphia Tapers 1961–1963, as Washington Tapers in 1961–62; moved to New York during 1961–62 season; as New York Tapers in 1961-62 and the Pittsburgh Rens (1961–1963).

In their first season, 1961–1962, the Steers were (54–25) under Coach Jack McMahon and were owned by Kenneth A. Kruege. They lost in the Finals to the Cleveland Piperswho were coached by John McLendon. After winning the first two games at Municipal, they lost the next two in Cleveland. The Steelers then lost in the Final game at Rockhurst University (Municipal Auditorium was booked) 106–102.

In their final season, 1962–1963, their General Manager was Mike Cleary (for whom John Carroll University's Sports Studies Program is named), who had left George Steinbrenner's Cleveland Pipers the year before. When the ABL folded, 5 Kansas City Steers basketball players, including Bill Bridges and Larry Staverman, transitioned to the NBA.

The Steers folded along with the ABL on December 31, 1962. They were declared to be the ABL Champions based on their 22–9 record under Coach John Dee.

The arena

The Steers played in Municipal Auditorium and Memorial Hall. Historic Municipal Auditorium is still in use today. The address is 301 West 13th Street, Kansas City, Missouri. Memorial Hall is also still in use and is located at 600 North 7th Street Kansas City, Kansas 66101.

Notable alumni
 Bill Bridges
Maurice King
 Nick Mantis
 Larry Staverman
 Bumper Tormohlen
 Win Wilfong
 John Windsor

Year-by-year

References

American Basketball League (1961–62) teams
Sports in the Kansas City metropolitan area
Basketball teams in Missouri
Basketball teams established in 1961
Sports clubs and teams disestablished in 1963
1961 establishments in Missouri
1963 disestablishments in Missouri

Kansas City Steers


Lori Swanson (born December 16, 1966) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the attorney general of Minnesota from 2007 to 2019. She was the first female attorney general elected in Minnesota. In 2018, she ran for Governor of Minnesota with running mate U.S. Representative Rick Nolan finishing in third place in the Democratic-Farmer-Labor primary.

After leaving public office, Swanson founded a law firm with Mike Hatch, her predecessor as attorney general.

Early life and education
Swanson was born on December 16, 1966. She earned her undergraduate degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and her J.D. magna cum laude from William Mitchell College of Law in Saint Paul.

Early legal career
Swanson served as deputy attorney general during Mike Hatch's first term, and as solicitor general during his second term. She also served as chair of the Consumer Advisory Council to the Federal Reserve Board of Governors in Washington, D.C., in 2006. Swanson was appointed to the Consumer Advisory Council of the Federal Reserve board of governors in Washington, D.C., in 2004. Swanson was appointed as vice-chair of the council in 2005. She was appointed chair of the council in 2006.

Attorney General of Minnesota

2007–2010: First term

She was elected Minnesota Attorney General on November 7, 2006 and took office on January 2, 2007, becoming the first woman to serve as Minnesota's attorney general. She also became the first William Mitchell College of Law grad to serve as the Minnesota Attorney General, ending the University of Minnesota Law School's continued streak of holding the office since in 1929.

After being sworn in as attorney general, Swanson filed a series of lawsuits against life insurance companies that sold unsuitable annuities to senior citizens. She argued that the insurance companies were responsible for agents who sold long-term annuities with high surrender charge to the elderly. In 2007 and 2008, she sued several insurers, including Allianz Life Insurance Company,  American Equity Life Insurance Company,  Midland National Life Insurance company,  AmeriUs Life Insurance Company and American Investors Life Insurance. The lawsuits resulted in settlements that provided for industry-wide reforms and hundreds of millions of dollars in refund offers to senior citizens. Swanson testified in the U.S. Senate Committee on Aging about the need for insurance companies to require sales agents to ensure the suitability of the sale of an insurance product.

As Swanson took office, the country was beginning to face a housing crisis and eventual recession spurred by predatory subprime mortgage lending.  Before she took office, Swanson announced a predatory lending working group to make recommendations to legislators for reforming abuses in the mortgage industry.  The group made a number of recommendations, such as the elimination of "no doc" mortgages in which a loan is issued without proof of a borrower's ability to repay it. Many of these proposals were enacted into law, and the Martin Luther King-inspired Drum Major Institute called them one of the 10 best public policy proposals in the United States.  A New York Times editorial heralded the law in 2009.  Swanson was asked to testify before the United States Congress  and the Federal Reserve Board of Governors about the Minnesota reforms.  During the housing crisis, Swanson filed 19 lawsuits against mortgage foreclosure companies that defrauded homeowners by charging thousands of dollars and falsely promising to help save their homes from foreclosure. Swanson entered into settlements with a number of national banks for their role in the foreclosure crisis, giving the money back to homeowners who were victimized by the banks' conduct.

In 2007, a group of attorneys working for Swanson attempted to form a union with the help of AFSCME council 5 to improve their working conditions and provide some protection from being asked to violate the Minnesota Rules of Professional Conduct by bringing baseless lawsuits against individuals and organizations to suit Swanson's political aspirations. As of April 2017, three months into Swanson's tenure, at least 30 members of Swanson's staff had left the office. On March 7, 2008, MinnPost reported on the internal fight for unionization that was still ongoing, including reports that attorneys who did not support Swanson politically were given punishment assignments or were removed from cases. Later on that spring, in May 2008, an attorney who publicly advocated for the formation of a union, Amy Lawler, was fired by Swanson.

In 2009, Swanson filed a lawsuit against National Arbitration Forum (NAF), at that time the largest consumer arbitration organization in the country.  NAF had been criticized by consumer advocacy groups, U.S. Senators, and Public Citizen for bias against consumers. Swanson alleged that NAF was owned by a group of equity funds that also were simultaneously affiliated with a national debt collection agency, Axiant, and the administration of the largest collection law firm at the time, Mann Brakken.  In July 2009 NAF signed a consent order with Swanson agreeing to stop arbitrating consumer claims.  Shortly thereafter, Axiant and Mann Bracken went out of business.

Swanson was re-elected on November 2, 2010, defeating Republican challenger Chris Barden.

2011–2014: Second term
In January 2012, Swanson sued Accretive Health, a billing and revenue consulting firm hired by two Twin Cities hospitals, for losing patient data on a lap top.  At the time, Accretive was a multibillion-dollar publicly-traded company. The lawsuit expanded when Swanson discovered that, unbeknownst to the patients, the data was being used to calculate the "frailty condition" of patients, complete with a "complexity score" of the physical condition of patients.  In April 2012, the lawsuit again expanded when Swanson alleged that Accretive embedded bill collectors in the emergency rooms of hospitals and demanded payment by patients before and during treatment.  Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel then intervened on behalf of Chicago-based Accretive to stop the litigation, which Swanson declined to do. The litigation ended with Accretive paying a $2.5 million penalty and being banned from the state.  Accretive is believed to be the first NYSE company to be banned from doing business in a state.

In April 2013, Swanson intervened in a proposed merger of South Dakota-based Sanford Health and Fairview Health Systems.  The merger would have included the control of the University of Minnesota Hospital System by the out-of-state Sanford. Swanson convened a hearing on the proposed merger in the State Capitol, grilling executives of the three organizations about the impact of the merger on the 23,000 Fairview employees in Minnesota and the $1.2 billion in assets held by the non-profit Fairview. The hearing was hotly contested. On April 10, 2013, Sanford withdrew from the merger discussion.

In 2013 and 2014 Swanson took on for-profit colleges.  Pointing out that over 70% of graduates of for-profit colleges earn less than high school drop outs, Swanson took action against colleges who misrepresented job placement rates, who steered students to high interest rates loans, and who misrepresented the transferability of credits to other institutions. In November, 2013 Swanson reached a settlement that required a for-profit college to make restitution to students whom it enrolled in a medical assisting degree program costing over $30,000 that wasn't properly accredited to train medical assistants to work for Minnesota employers.   In September, 2016 the district court in Hennepin County ruled that another for-profit college sued by Swanson violated the consumer fraud laws by enrolling students who wanted to become police officers in a criminal justice program that was not certified by the state to train police officers. In July, 2017 the Minnesota Supreme Court found in Swanson's lawsuit that the school made illegal usurious loans to students at interest rates as high as 18 percent.  In 2015, Swanson became one of the first attorneys general in the country to file lawsuits against student loan assistance companies that charged students thousands of dollars for bogus help in supposedly alleviating student loan debt.

In 2014, Swanson issued a scathing report on charities that contract with Savers, Inc., a for profit company that collects and sells second hand clothing through the United States and Canada.  Swanson said that the charities and Savers were engaged in deceptive activities because the charities received only a few pennies in exchange for the dollars received by Savers for the sale of donated clothing. Swanson settled the matter in 2015 when Savers agreed to disclose that it is a for-profit company, that it will no longer commingle goods donated to specific charities, that it will disclose the amount of the revenue it receives which is donated to charity, that it will compensate charities for non-clothing items donated to the charity, and that it pay $1.8 million to the charities it serviced in the state of Minnesota.

In 2014 Swanson was re-elected attorney general, winning seven of the eight Congressional Districts in Minnesota. She won with 52.6% of the vote, beating Republican Scott Newman's 39%.

2015–2018: Third term

Swanson was active in pharmaceutical litigation.  In June 2016, she secured a $10.3 million recovery from Wyeth Pharmaceutical for failing to properly issue rebates to the state.  In September 2016, Swanson sued Indivior PLC, a manufacturer of the opioid withdrawal medicine Suboxone, for unlawfully keeping out generic competition by tweaking the drug's structure to obtain a separate patent. She also wrote to insurance companies that month asking them to remove pre-authorization approval barriers to prevent or delay patients from getting access to opioid withdrawal treatment.  In November 2016, Swanson issued a report on the opioid epidemic, calling for legislative and regulatory reforms as it relates to protocols on prescribing pain killers.  The Report received 2017 Notable Mention Award from the National Council of State Legislatures.  In December, 2016, she filed an antitrust lawsuit against six major drug manufactures alleging they colluded to fix the prices of generic prescription drugs for widely used diabetes, antibiotic, and other medicines. The lawsuit said that a significant player in the litigation was a salesperson based in Minnesota. In June 2017, Swanson opened an investigation concerning the role of pharmaceutical manufacturers in the opioid epidemic.  In May 2018, Swanson sued Insys Therapeutics for deceptive marketing of Subsys, a fentanyl painkiller.  In October 2017, Swanson expanded her lawsuit against generic drug companies for fixing the prices of popular medicines by naming a dozen more companies. In July 2018, Swanson filed sued against Purdue Pharma, claiming that it misrepresented the addictive nature of OxyContin.

Swanson has also been active in cases involving deceptive practices aimed at senior citizens.  She obtained a $7 million judgment  against a company that sold living trusts to senior citizens as a guise to sell them insurance products.  In 2014, she filed a lawsuit against another company that sold "estate plans" to senior citizens costing $2,000 that it falsely claimed were prepared by an attorney. Swanson filed several lawsuits against outfits that bilked senior citizens with the sale of coins that were overpriced or not delivered. Swanson then worked with the legislature to secure enactment of legislation to curb abuses within the industry.

Swanson also brought a number of cases on behalf of patients who were harmed by various health care practices besides those listed above.  In 2009, she filed a lawsuit against a major hospital system for charging 18 percent interest on unpaid medical bills in violation of Minnesota usury laws.  The hospital settled with Swanson by agreeing to make over $1 million in refunds to patients. In 2007, 2012, and 2017, she renewed agreements first reached by her predecessor in 2005 with all Minnesota hospitals to reform the manner in which they collect unpaid medical bills and charge uninsured patients. In 2009 she took action against medical providers for signing patients up for health care credit cards without their permission and placing thousands of dollars in debt on the credit cards.  In 2009 and 2010 Swanson sued several companies that sold phony health insurance coverage to uninsured patients.    In 2013, Swanson intervened to assist rural critical access hospitals after a large insurance company cut their contract payments.  Also in 2013, Swanson asked the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to investigate a large insurer that sold Medicare policies after receiving complaints about shoddy payment practices.  In 2016, Swanson required Minnesota hospitals to refund rape survivors who were improperly charged for sexual assault exams.  In 2017, after the Minnesota Legislature authorized for-profit HMOs do business in Minnesota, Swanson sounded the alarm about the need to protect the nonprofit assets held by Minnesota HMOs from being acquired by for-profit companies.  After Swanson pushed for legislation to regulate such nonprofit conversions, the legislature enacted a two-year moratorium on such transactions.  In 2017 Swanson intervened after the state's largest insurance company and children's hospital failed to agreeing on a contract, bringing the two chief executive officers together to help forge a solution that would ensure continuity of care for 60,000 child patients.  In 2018 Swanson filed a lawsuit against the federal government for cutting over $100 million in year in funding for MinnesotaCare, the state's 25 year old bipartisan health care program for the working poor.

During her tenure as attorney general, Swanson received recognition for bringing a number of cases to hold bill collectors and predatory lenders accountable for unlawful collection practices or other illegal practices.  She brought the first lawsuit by a regulator in the country against one of the nation's largest collection agencies for "robo-signing" thousands of legal documents without verifying their accuracy.   The alleged debts were often 10 years old or more and brought against people who did not owe the money.  In a settlement with Swanson's office, the company agreed to reform its practices and substantiate that debts were owed before filing collection lawsuits.   Swanson later got enacted bipartisan legislation that required debt buyers to provide evidence they are targeting the correct person in the right amount before filing collection lawsuits. Swanson also got millions of dollars of bills written off after suing a Minnesota collection company that added 22 percent interest to old bank overdraft fees. In 2017, she sued an outfit that got senior citizens to sign over large portions of their future pensions at high costs for military benefits in exchange for small loans.  Starting in 2011, Swanson filed suit against many online "payday" lenders for making high-cost unlicensed loans to Minnesota residents, winning an $11 million settlement against one such company in 2016.   In 2015 Swanson secured a favorable ruling from the Minnesota Supreme Court that Minnesota lending laws apply to online lenders against a lender that claimed that the Dormant Commerce Clause of the United States Constitution prohibited the application of such laws.

On February 1, 2017, Swanson joined the attorneys general of the states of Washington, New York, Virginia, and Massachusetts in bringing a lawsuit against the administration of President Donald Trump. The suit challenged the president's executive order that bans refugees and travelers from a list of predominantly Muslim nations from entering the United States. The suit alleges that the order is unconstitutional and should not be enforced. Swanson issued a statement saying restricting people from certain countries "does not pass constitutional muster, is inconsistent with our history as a nation, and undermines our national security."

In February 2018, Swanson reached a settlement of a major environmental lawsuit she filed in 2010 against 3M Company over its disposal of chemicals for several decades into the drinking water in the east metropolitan area of the Twin Cities. The lawsuit was settled for $850 million, or 100 times more than the next biggest environmental settlement in Minnesota history. Under the court-approved settlement, the money was to be used to clean up the drinking water.

On June 2, 2018, Swanson withdrew from seeking the DFL endorsement for attorney general despite receiving 52% of the endorsement vote in the first round of balloting (with 60% required for endorsement). Her opponent, Matt Pelikan, had received 47% in the first round of balloting. After her withdrawal, Pelikan was endorsed as the DFL candidate for attorney general.

Awards and honors
Swanson was named one of the "Top Ten Lawyers in America" by the national publication Lawyers USA in 2009. In December, 2012 Health Leaders Magazine named Swanson one of 20 Americans who is making a difference in health care. She also received the Robert Drinan "Champion of Justice" award from the National Consumer Law Center, a Washington-based non-profit organization that acts as a national clearing center and publisher for consumer lawyers and other legal advocates. She was also a recipient of the Pro Patria award by the Department of Defense for her work on behalf of armed service personnel. In 2010, Swanson was named Public Official of the Year by the Minnesota Nurses Association. The Drum Major Institute of New York designated Swanson's predatory mortgage legislation on one of the ten top public policies proposed in 2008. In 2014, the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Journalism awarded Swanson the Distinguished Service Award.

Electoral history

2006

2010

2014

2018

See also
 Politics of Minnesota
 List of female state attorneys general in the United States

References

External links

 Attorney General of Minnesota
 Washington, Minnesota attorneys general's lawsuit against Trump immigration ban

1966 births
21st-century American politicians
21st-century American women politicians
American women lawyers
Living people
Minnesota Attorneys General
Minnesota Democrats
Minnesota lawyers
People from Eagan, Minnesota
University of Wisconsin–Madison alumni
William Mitchell College of Law alumni
Women in Minnesota politics

Lori Swanson


Liberty N' Justice (LNJ) is a Christian hard rock band started in 1991 by Justin Murr and Patrick Marchand with band mates: Robert Earl Sliger; Angie Beckett; Kim; and James Beckett.The original lineup was dissolved on, mm/dd/yy.  In 2002, Murr continued with the Liberty N' Justice name, contacting several well-known artists to join him in creating the new album Welcome to the Revolution.   They have continued through the past two decades, collaborating with such special guest vocalists such as:  Lou Gramm of Foreigner, Chris Jericho of Fozzy, Phil Collen of Def Leppard, Sebastian Bach, Leif Garrett, Michael Sweet of Stryper, C J  Snare of Firehouse, Rubicon Cross, Jack Russell of Great White, Kip Winger of Winger, and various others.

MelodicRock.com praised LNJ for "moments of greatness...(with) great melodies and lead vocal performances to bridge the gap between modern and traditional hard rock."

Christian Metal Central wrote, "with an impressive lineup of musicians and vocalists the like never seen on a Christian rock compilation CD...(Liberty N' Justice) has earned a place in...history."

In 2011, LNJ released "Sin," the final song recorded by Jani Lane before he died.

Discography

Armed With The Cross (1992)
Big Guns (1994)
Forever Till The End (1996)
Bargain Bin (2000)
Welcome to the Revolution (2004)
Soundtrack of a Soul (2006)
Independence Day (2007)
4-All: The Best Of LNJ (2008)
Light It Up (2010)
Chasing A Cure LP (2011)
Hell Is Coming To Breakfast (2012)
Before The Revolution:best of lnj the early years (2012)
The Cigar Chronicles (2013)
4-All: The Best Of LNJ 2 (2013)
''The Vow" (2014)
 Life Songs EP  (2016)
 Better Than Maroon 5 EP (2017)
 Fiddle While Rome Burns (2021)

External links
 Liberty N' Justice's official site
Liberty N' Justice's MySpace page

American Christian rock groups
American hard rock musical groups
Musical groups established in 1991
1991 establishments in the United States

Liberty N' Justice


Veselin Topalov (Веселин Топалов, born 15 March 1975), is a Bulgarian chess grandmaster and former 'FIDE world chess champion'. This was a knock-out tournament of lower status than the classical world championship.

Topalov became the FIDE champion in 2005. He lost his title in a classical match against Vladimir Kramnik, the purpose of which was to unify the titles. During the match, his manager accused his opponent of cheating. The match ended the division between world titles, which had arisen in 1993. Next, Topalov defeated Gata Kamsky in February 2009 in Sofia, Bulgaria to earn the right to be the challenger for the World Chess Championship in 2010.  Topalov lost the World Championship match with Anand 5½–6½ in May 2010.

Topalov won the 2005 Chess Oscar. He was ranked #1 in the world from April 2006 to January 2007, and then had the second highest Elo rating of all time (2813). He regained the world #1 ranking again in October 2008, and officially remained #1 until January 2010, when he fell to #2 behind Magnus Carlsen.

He has been ranked number one a total of 27 months in his career, the fourth longest, behind only Garry Kasparov, Anatoly Karpov, and Bobby Fischer.

References

1975 births
Living people
Chess grandmasters
Bulgarian sportspeople

Veselin Topalov


In mathematics, algebroid may refer to several distinct notions, which nevertheless all arise from generalising certain aspects of the theory of algebras or Lie algebras.

Algebroid branch, a formal power series branch of an algebraic curve
Algebroid cohomology
Algebroid multifunction
Courant algebroid, an object generalising Lie bialgebroids
Lie algebroid, the infinitesimal counterpart of Lie groupoids
Atiyah algebroid, a fundamental example of a Lie algebroid associated to a principal bundle
R-algebroid, a categorical construction associated to groupoids

Mathematics disambiguation pages

Algebroid


Ann Katharine Mitchell ( Williamson; 19 November 1922 – 11 May 2020) was a British cryptanalyst and psychologist. She was born in Oxford.

Mitchell worked on decrypting messages encoded in the German Enigma cypher at Bletchley Park during the Second World War. After the war, she became a marriage guidance counsellor, then studied for a Master of Philosophy at the University of Edinburgh.

She worked at the university's Department of Social Administration and wrote several academic books about the psychological effects of divorce on children including Someone to Turn to: Experiences of Help Before Divorce (1981) and Children in the Middle: Living Through Divorce (1985).

Mitchell died on 11 May 2020, aged 97, in Edinburgh of COVID-19.

References

1922 births
2020 deaths
Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom
British psychologists
British people of World War II
Academics of the University of Edinburgh

Ann Katharine Mitchell


Local education authorities (LEAs) were defined in England and Wales as the local councils responsible for education within their jurisdictions. The term was introduced by the  Education Act 1902 which transferred education powers from school boards to existing local councils.

There have been periodic changes to the types of councils defined as local education authorities. Initially, they were the councils of counties and county boroughs. From 1974 the local education authorities were the county councils in non-metropolitan areas and the district councils in metropolitan areas. In Greater London, the ad hoc Inner London Education Authority existed from 1965 to 1990. Outer London borough councils have been LEAs since 1965 and inner London borough councils since 1990. Unitary authorities created since 1995 have all been LEAs.

The functions of LEAs have varied over time as council responsibilities for local education have changed. Since 2010, the term no longer appears in legislation, but is often used to distinguish local authorities with education functions from those without them.

History

Creation
The term was introduced by the Education Act 1902 (2 Edw. 7. c. 42). The legislation designated each local authority; either county council and county borough council; would set up a committee known as a local education authority (LEA). The councils took over the powers and responsibilities of the school boards and technical instruction committees in their area.

Municipal boroughs with a population of 10,000 and urban districts with a population of 20,000 were to be local education authorities in their areas for elementary education only.

In 1904 the London County Council became a local education authority, with the abolition of the London School Board. The metropolitan boroughs within London were not education authorities, although they were given the power to decide on the site for new schools in their areas, and provided the majority of members on boards of management.

The LEAs' role was further expanded with the introduction of school meals in 1906 and medical inspection in 1907.

Reform
The Education Act 1944 changed the requirements for delegation of functions from county councils to districts and boroughs. The population requirement for excepted districts became 60,000 or 7,000 pupils registered in elementary schools. The Local Government Act 1958 permitted any county district to apply for excepted district status.

In 1965 the London County Council, Middlesex County Council and the councils of the county boroughs of Croydon, East Ham and West Ham were replaced by the Greater London Council. The twenty outer London boroughs became local education authorities, while a new Inner London Education Authority, consisting of the members of the GLC elected for the twelve inner London boroughs covering the former County of London was created.

In 1974 local government outside London was completely reorganised. In the new metropolitan counties of England and Wales, metropolitan boroughs became LEAs. In the non-metropolitan counties the county councils were the education authorities.

In 1986, with the abolition of the Greater London Council, the Inner London Education Authority became directly elected. This however only lasted until 1990, when the twelve inner London boroughs assumed responsibility for education.

In 1989, under the Education Reform Act 1988, the LEAs lost responsibility for higher education, with all polytechnics and colleges of higher education becoming independent corporations.

A further wave of local government reorganisation during the 1990s led to the formation of unitary authorities in parts of England and throughout Wales, which became local education authorities.

Redefinition
The Children Act 2004 defined each local education authority as additionally a children's services authority, with responsibility for both functions held by the director of children's services.

Ending

England
The Local Education Authorities and Children's Services Authorities (Integration of Functions) Order 2010 removed all reference to local education authorities and children's services authorities from existing legislation, replacing them with the term 'local authority'. A local authority for the purposes of the Education Act 1996 and the Children Act 2004 was defined as the county council, metropolitan district council, unitary authority, London borough council and the Common Council of the City of London. Schedule 1 of the order inserted in the Education Act 1996 a list of 'education functions' for the relevant local authorities. Despite the term becoming obsolete, 'local education authority' continues to be used to distinguish local authorities with education functions from those without them.

Wales
In Wales the councils of the counties and county boroughs are responsible for education. Since 5 May 2010, the terms local education authority and children's services authority have been repealed and replaced by the single term 'local authority' in both primary and secondary legislation.

Functions
Local education authorities had some responsibility for all state schools in their area.

They are responsible for distribution and monitoring of funding for the schools
They are responsible for co-ordination of admissions, including allocation of the number of places available at each school
They are the direct employers of all staff in community and VC schools
They have a responsibility for the educational achievement of looked-after children, i.e. children in their care
They have attendance and advisory rights in relation to the employment of teachers, and in relation to the dismissal of any staff
They are the owners of school land and premises in community schools.

Until recently, local education authorities were responsible for the funding of students in higher education (for example undergraduate courses and PGCE) whose permanent address is in their area, regardless of the place of study. Based on an assessment of individual circumstances they offer grants or access to student loans through the Student Loans Company.

Education functions
Statutory education functions for local authorities in England are as follows:
 Making of byelaws relating to the employment of children.
 Payment of injury benefit to or in respect of teachers.
 Powers and duties relating to careers services
 Duty to provide information to the Secretary of State.
 General duty to secure that facilities for education are provided without sex discrimination.
 Power to use a school bus to carry fare-paying passengers.
 Duty to prepare and revise lists of rooms in school premises which candidates may use.
 Duty to require the appropriate officer to give an opinion as to whether a child with a statement is disabled.
 Education supervision orders.
 Duty to secure that disabled pupils are not placed at a substantial disadvantage.
 Duty to prepare an accessibility strategy.
 Duty (as responsible body) to prepare an accessibility plan.
 Duty relating to the provision of independent advocacy services
 Duties as an "authorised body" relating to qualifications.
 Duty to arrange assessments relating to learning difficulties.
 Duty to implement approved proposals relating to sixth forms.
 Duty to include certain persons on overview and scrutiny committee if it relates to education functions.
 Powers and duties relating to education of a child in an accommodation centre.
 Powers and duties relating to parenting orders and parenting contracts.
 Duty to make available to the Secretary of State appropriate accommodation for enabling the Secretary of State to arrange for medical inspections in schools.

Relevant local authority
England has several tiers of local government and the relevant local authority varies. Within Greater London the 32 London borough councils and the Common Council of the City of London are the local authorities responsible for education; in the metropolitan counties it is the 36 metropolitan borough councils; and in the non-metropolitan counties it is the 21 county councils or, where there is no county council, the councils of the 62 unitary authorities. The Council of the Isles of Scilly is an education authority. There are 152 local education authorities in England.

List of local authorities responsible for education
There are currently 152 local education authorities in England. Below they are listed alphabetically by region.

See also
Special education
Dyslexia support in the United Kingdom

References

External links
DfES: The Role of the Local Education Authority in School Education

Education in the United Kingdom
Education
Local education authorities

Local education authorities in England and Wales


Trial and error is a primitive method of solving problems. It is characterised by repeated, varied attempts which are continued until success, or until the agent stops trying. It is an unsystematic method, which does not employ insight, theory or organised methodology.

According to W.H. Thorpe, the term was devised by C. Lloyd Morgan after trying out similar phrases "trial and failure" and "trial and practice". Under Morgan's canon, animal behaviour should be explained in the simplest possible way. Where behaviour seems to imply higher mental processes, it might be explained by trial and error learning. An example is the skilful way in which his terrier Tony opened the garden gate, easily misunderstood as an insightful act by someone seeing the final behaviour. Lloyd Morgan, however, had watched and recorded the series of approximations by which the dog had gradually learned the response, and could demonstrate that no insight was required to explain it.

Edward Thorndike showed how to manage a trial and error experiment in the laboratory. In his famous experiment, a cat was placed in a series of puzzle boxes in order to study the law of effect in learning. He plotted learning curves which recorded the timing for each trial. Thorndike's key observation was that learning was promoted by positive results, which was later refined and extended by B.F. Skinner's operant conditioning.

References

Psychology
Problem solving
Learning
Ethology

Trial and error


Jean-Claude St-André (born September 27, 1962) is a Quebec provincial politician and was the Member of the National Assembly of Quebec representing L'Assomption for the Parti Québécois.

He earned his Bachelor of Arts in social sciences from the Université de Montréal in 1984 and subsequently studied business administration at the Université du Québec à Montréal. After working for several years in business he became involved in politics joining the staff of the MNA for Anjou in 1992 and then serving in the office of the Premier of Quebec, Jacques Parizeau from 1994 to 1996. As a youth he had campaigned for the "Yes" side in the 1980 Quebec referendum on sovereignty-association and was also active with the PQ on the Anjou riding executive and as a campaign manager throughout the 1980s and 1990s.

On June 10, 1996, he was elected MNA for L'Assomption in a by-election and was re-elected in the 1998 and 2003 provincial elections.

Since May 2003 he has been spokesman of the official opposition on birthrate and demography.

On August 25, 2005, St-André officially became a candidate in the 2005 Parti Québécois leadership election. He won 951 votes or 0.9% of ballots cast when the vote results were announced on November 15, 2005.

In the 2007 Quebec elections, St-André was defeated by the ADQ's Eric Laporte by over 2,000 votes.

On November 8, 2008, members of the Parti Québécois put his name forward for the MNA for L'Assomption riding in the 2008 provincial election; however, Parti Québécois leader Pauline Marois ruled his candidacy out, on the basis that the riding owes the party money, and St-André would not rally to the party line of placing a separatist referendum on the back burner.

References

External links

1962 births
Living people
French Quebecers
Parti Québécois MNAs
Politicians from Montreal
Université de Montréal alumni
Université du Québec à Montréal alumni
21st-century Canadian politicians

Jean-Claude St-André


Kathleen Vaughan Wilkes (23 June 1946 – 21 August 2003) was an English philosopher and academic who played an important part in rebuilding the education systems of former Communist countries after 1990. She established her reputation as an academic with her contributions to the philosophy of mind in two major works and many articles in professional journals. As a conscientious college tutor, she won the respect and affection of her students and academic colleagues. Her most notable contribution lay in her clandestine activities behind the Iron Curtain, which led to the establishment of underground universities and academic networks in Soviet-controlled Eastern Europe. For her work in support of this network President Václav Havel awarded her the Commemorative Medal of the President of the Czech Republic in October 1998.

Early life and academic career
Wilkes, who was known as Kathy, was the daughter of Rev. J C Vaughan Wilkes who had been a master at Eton and Warden of Radley College before entering holy orders, and was for many years vicar of Marlow. Her paternal grandparents had founded and run St Cyprian's School, Eastbourne, while her grandfather on her mother's side (the Very Rev Cyril Alington) had been Headmaster of Eton, Dean of Durham and author of many famous hymns. She was educated at Wycombe Abbey and St Hugh's College, Oxford, where she achieved a double First.  Her achievement was all the greater in light of the excruciating pain she was suffering from as a result of a teenage riding accident. She spent a period at Princeton University, where she studied with Thomas Nagel, Richard Rorty and others, and received her Ph.D. She then lived the life of an Oxbridge don. After a time at King's College, Cambridge, she became a fellow of St Hilda's College, Oxford, in 1973, and was a lecturer in philosophy in the University of Oxford for the rest of her career.

Work in Soviet-controlled Eastern Europe: Czechoslovakia

During her time at Oxford, she worked, often in secret, for the education systems of eastern Europe. In 1979 she was the first of Oxford university's philosophers to respond to an invitation from the dissident philosophical community in Prague to conduct secret seminars there.  She showed extraordinary courage in conducting secret meetings in crowded flats with groups of philosophers. Despite her large frame and ungainly walk, she would lead the secret policemen who followed her on wild goose chases through Slavic cities, unconcerned by their harassment. She made the difficult and risky trip many times, smuggling in banned books and taking out samizdat manuscripts. With her western friends, she created the Jan Hus Foundation, which was to become a major source of support for the dissident community. She encouraged and financially supported dissident intellectuals, finally bringing the Czech philosopher Julius Tomin and family to England. Having lost her Czech visa, she achieved this by returning to Prague with a new passport in her full name "Vaughan-Wilkes" to confuse the authorities. Having never driven there before, she drove the family precariously in a heavily overladen Zhiguli to the West knowing that the slightest traffic infringement would bring down the law. Back in England she arranged housing and paid for the children's education.

Work in the former Yugoslavia

Wilkes became Chairman of the executive committee of the Inter-University Centre in Dubrovnik in 1986. Concerned at the lack of voice for philosophers in the east who were interested in the analytic approach, with Bill Newton-Smith as her co-editor, she created a journal known initially as the Dubrovnik Papers, and now flourishing as International Studies in the Philosophy of Science. She paid for a young Croatian psychologist's education at Oxford, maintaining throughout that the fees were being met by a fictitious 'Alington trust'. During the siege of Dubrovnik by the JNA in 1991–1992 during the Croatian war of independence, she refused to leave, seeing it her duty to give comfort and support to the sufferers and to inform the world of the City's distress.

Following the collapse of their political regimes, especially that of the former Yugoslavia, she worked to try to restore their academic standards, spending time in Croatia, where she was honoured with a doctorate from the University of Zagreb.

Kathy Wilkes was specifically referenced by her colleague Roger Scruton who took her as his model of the English gentleman, arguing that "her virtues were revealed in nothing so much, as her habit of concealing them". She appeared in the Channel 4 documentary series College Girls, broadcast in 2002 about some St Hilda's students.

Works
Physicalism (1978)
Real People (1988), Oxford University Press,
Modelling the Mind (1990) editor with W. Newton Smith

References

British women academics
British activists
British women activists
Fellows of St Hilda's College, Oxford
People educated at Wycombe Abbey
Alumni of St Hugh's College, Oxford
1946 births
2003 deaths
Place of birth missing
Place of death missing
English women philosophers
Academics of the University of Oxford

Kathy Wilkes


6-Phosphogluconate dehydrogenase (6PGD) is an enzyme in the pentose phosphate pathway. It forms ribulose 5-phosphate from 6-phosphogluconate:

6-phospho-D-gluconate + NAD(P)+  D-Ribulose 5-phosphate + CO2 + NAD(P)H + H+

It is an oxidative carboxylase that catalyses the decarboxylating reduction of 6-phosphogluconate into ribulose 5-phosphate in the presence of NADP. This reaction is a component of the hexose mono-phosphate shunt and pentose phosphate pathways (PPP). Prokaryotic and eukaryotic 6PGD are proteins of about 470 amino acids whose sequences are highly conserved. The protein is a homodimer in which the monomers act independently: each contains a large, mainly alpha-helical domain and a smaller beta-alpha-beta domain, containing a mixed parallel and anti-parallel 6-stranded beta sheet. NADP is bound in a cleft in the small domain, the substrate binding in an adjacent pocket.

Biotechnological significance
Recently, 6PGD was demonstrated to catalyze also the reverse reaction (i.e. reductive carboxylation) in vivo. Experiments using Escherichia coli selection strains revealed that this reaction was efficient enough to support the formation of biomass based solely on CO2 and pentose sugars. In the future, this property could be exploited for synthetic carbon fixation routes.

Clinical significance
Mutations within the gene coding this enzyme result in 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase deficiency, an autosomal hereditary disease affecting the red blood cells.

As a possible drug target
6PGD is involved in cancer cell metabolism so 6PGD inhibitors have been sought.

See also
Parietin, a 6PGD inhibitor

References

Further reading

NADPH-dependent enzymes
NADH-dependent enzymes
EC 1.1.1

6-Phosphogluconate dehydrogenase