Council of Ministers at Home () was a part of the Polish Government in Exile residing in occupied Poland. It was the top executive of the Polish Underground State, created on 26 July 1944 from the Government Delegate's Office at Home. It was led by Polish deputy prime minister, Jan Stanisław Jankowski, and divided into departments representative of pre-war Polish ministries and other offices. Most of its members, including Jankowski, were arrested on 27 March 1945 by NKVD and sentenced in the Trial of the Sixteen. The remaining leaders of the Underground State decided not to recreate the Council.

Poland in World War II
Polish Underground State

Council of Ministers at Home


Richard Collins St. Clair (born September 21, 1946) is an American composer, pedagogue, poet and pianist.

Life History and Musical Career
In the 17th c. St. Clairs (or Sinclairs) emigrated from the British Isles to New England as part of the early colonization of North America. Richard St. Clair's maternal ancestors emigrated from Norway and Sweden to the American Upper Midwest (in particular, Minnesota) in the latter part of the 19th century along with hundreds of thousands of other Scandinavians who settled there at that time. So many Norwegian immigrants settled in the Upper Midwest that it is locally referred to as "Little Norway." His paternal ancestors hailed from England and Scotland and were both riders on the Mayflower as well as military men in the American War of Independence.

Richard St. Clair was born in Jamestown, North Dakota. The following year his family moved to Grand Forks, North Dakota, a larger city with much greater musical and cultural opportunities than his birthplace. The musical environs of Grand Forks served as the foundation for his life in music. The city boasted its own symphony orchestra, a major university with an active music department, a concert series featuring prominent soloists, and a school system that emphasized music education. For years he sang in both the Centralian concert chorus of his high school (Grand Forks Central High School) and the sanctuary choir of the church (First Presbyterian) which he attended as a child and adolescent. He also sang in the Choral Union, a collaboration between the University of North Dakota and the Grand Forks community. It was these singing experiences that imbued him with a love of choral music which has carried him throughout his musical life, with dozens of choral compositions to his credit.

Music ran through his family. His maternal great-grandfather Ludvig Svendsen Bogen played in the Norwegian King's Band and his grandfather Sven Fredrik Bogen was a band conductor who played and taught many different instruments; his maternal grandmother was a piano teacher who was reputed for being able to transpose any song into any key. His paternal grandmother was a gifted pianist. His father, Foster York St. Clair (1905–1994) – a Harvard-educated English literature scholar, university professor and poet – and his mother, Elna Ruth Bogen St. Clair (1912–1974) – a business college teacher – were both amateur musicians and classical music-lovers. St. Clair from a very early age fell in love with the music of Mozart, Mendelssohn and Tchaikovsky, which were played in his home on fragile 78-rpm records.  At age 4 he began taking piano lessons. By age 16 he was starting to write music, mainly for chorus and organ, inspired by Gustav Holst, Flor Peeters and Paul Hindemith.

A turning point in his musical life came in 1963 when he attended on scholarship the International Music Camp in the International Peace Garden on the North Dakota-Canada border. Amidst the intense musical environment, his performances at the piano, together with his then piano teacher Paul Lundquist, were noticed by Professor Earnest Harris, head of the piano department at Moorhead State College (later renamed Minnesota State University Moorhead). Harris, steeped in the pedagogic tradition of Theodor Leschetizky and Carl Czerny and a former pupil of Leonard Shure, gave him a full scholarship to study piano, culminating in his brilliant senior solo recital in Grand Forks the following spring, playing the music of Bach, Beethoven, and Brahms.

Early in his music education, St. Clair was enamored of the music of Edvard Grieg, from whose music he acquired a love for miniaturism and compact musical invention. Few of his works last longer than 15 minutes (with some noteworthy exceptions). He was also deeply moved by the music of Robert Schumann, especially the great C Major Fantasia, opus 17. In college, he became engrossed in the piano music of Mozart, Schubert, Schumann and Bartok, playing and absorbing their music over and over again on his Poole upright piano (which he tuned himself since he could not afford a professional piano tuner) in his dingy second-storey Cambridge apartment. This way he acquired a deep love for classical-romantic music, which is strongly present in his own compositions.

In 1970 St. Clair made a solo piano appearance in a recital of his own music in Newburyport, Massachusetts. Reviewer Ned Brown made the following prophetic observations:

We admired St. Cair's expansive genius, his dynamic keyboard skill and his personal modesty. At 24, Richard St. Clair is firmly launched on a musical career which offers great possibilities.

St. Clair, following in his father's footsteps, began his studies at Harvard University in Cambridge (Massachusetts) where in 1969 he earned his Bachelor of Arts (A.B.) with honors in music composition, the first of many Harvard students to write a musical work in lieu of a thesis. While an undergraduate he studied piano techniques (sight-reading and figured bass) with Luise Vosgerchian, harmony with James Haar and John MacIvor Perkins, counterpoint with James Yannatos and Alejandro Enrique Planchart, form and analysis with Luciano Berio, and composition with Billy Jim Layton and Leon Kirchner. In graduate school at Harvard he went on to earn his Master of Arts (A.M.) in 1973 and his Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in 1978, both degrees in music composition. During his student years he was awarded several prizes for his compositions. At Harvard he studied composition with Roger Sessions, Leon Kirchner, Earl Kim, and David Del Tredici. He studied piano privately with Paul Lundquist, Earnest Harris, and Leonard Shure. As a graduate student he was persuaded by a fellow student at Harvard to study piano with Margaret Chaloff in Boston. After a few lessons it became evident to him that she was grooming him for a career as a concert pianist, against which St. Clair rebelled and decided to continue his aspirations as a composer. He made his debut as a composer with his performance of his avant-garde Piano Piece no. 1 at the Marlboro Music Festival in 1967 as an invitee of his teacher, Leon Kirchner; there he was encouraged by Director Rudolf Serkin to continue to pursue a career in composition. Serkin's laconic comment on St. Clair's Piano Piece No. 1, "It has line." Both Shure and Serkin discouraged St. Clair from pursuing a career as a concert pianist, though St. Clair occasionally performed his own piano compositions in concert. Although his student years were turbulent, he emerged as a successful composer of broad stylistic tastes.

His Missa Syllabica for SATB chorus performed by Boston's Coro Allegro drew the praise of Boston Globe critic Susan Larson for its 'lush, soft-edged harmonic vocabulary...[and] burst of melismatic ecstasy.'

Of his 1994 freely atonal cycle Moon Flowers: Album of 50 Haiku-Moments for Solo Piano on the occasion of the 300th anniversary of the death of the great haiku poet, Matsuo Basho (1644-1694), noted haiku poet Dee Evetts wrote

Richard St. Clair performed his Moon Flowers: Album of Haiku-Moments for Solo Piano. This hypnotic string of phrases was reminiscent (for this listener) of the shakuhachi tradition, 'beads threaded on silence.'

St. Clair's music has been heard far and wide from South America to Europe to Asia and across the United States and Canada. Difficult to describe but generally in the broad category of Neoromanticism (music), his music runs the gamut of pure tonality to avant-garde atonality.

Of his extended motet, Today's Lord's Prayer, noted organist and choir director Joanne Vollendorf Rickards wrote

Our choir was honored...to perform the premiere of Today's Lord's Prayer, ... [a] spine tingling anthem. It was truly spectacular.

His Piano Pieces no. 1 and no.2 composed in his college years are intensely atonal and show the influence of Karlheinz Stockhausen. Since then, however, he has turned to a more approachable style following the tradition of 20th-century masters including Igor Stravinsky, Dmitri Shostakovich, Béla Bartók and Arnold Schoenberg, the latter who taught his teachers Earl Kim and Leon Kirchner. His Love-Canzonettes and other works for chorus and his many ragtime works for piano are completely tonal and classically conceived, as is his Lyric Symphony and his chamber opera, Taema. His string quartets and much of his other music including his Concertino for Wind Band are tonally more challenging and structurally freer. For instance, his First String Quartet is structured freely around the octatonic scale, as is the second movement of his Symphony for String Orchestra, while his Second String Quartet employs a twelve-tone row.

Of St. Clair's The Lamentations of Shinran for Soprano, Tenor and String Quartet, Boston Phoenix music reviewer Lloyd Schwartz wrote in February 2000:  St. Clair has created a fascinating sound world, both charged and atmospheric. His is a stirring and original voice.

Composer David Cleary, writing of the same work in 21st Century Music said,
This nearly half-hour long setting of 13th-century  Buddhist  poems  proves  fascinating  from  start  to  finish, exhibiting  numerous  deeply-felt  variants  on  oriental  sensitivity  and  exquisite melancholy.

Writing in New Music Connoisseur (2005), Cleary commented as follows on St. Clair's 2005 cycle, "Songs from the Chinese":
Asian verse has inspired some of Richard St. Clair's most ambitious efforts. Thus it's no surprise that his "Songs from the Chinese", a setting of ten Yuan dynasty poems scored for voice, flute, contrabass, and piano, is satisfying to hear. One encounters pentatonic touches sprinkled throughout its mildly spiced tonal language, but never to the point of parody. And the wide-ranging textual tone elicits comparably varied approaches to vocal and instrumental writing. Yet there's a charming and heartfelt overall ethos to the cycle that ably binds disparate moods.

After twenty-five years of study and practice in Buddhism, St. Clair returned to his Christian roots and embraced the Christian Science faith. His latest works for solo voice and for chorus express his new-found spiritual path.

In 1969 and 1970 he taught piano at the New England Conservatory in Boston (Massachusetts), and from 1973 to 1977 he taught music history and composition at his alma mater, Harvard University. He also served on the music faculty of Phillips Exeter Academy and Phillips Academy (Andover). Since the late 1970s he has lived a mainly reclusive life, occasionally emerging to present his compositions in concert.

Compositions

Works for theatre
 2013–2014 Taema: A Buddhist Opera, Chamber opera in two acts for small orchestra, SATB chorus and soli; libretto, 15th century Noh play by Zeami
 1991-2018 Little Ida's Flowers: A Mini-Opera for Children for Chamber Group, based on the story by Hans Christian Andersen
 1990-2019 Beowulf: A Classical Melodrama in Four Scenes for Chorus, Soloists, and Piano (Libretto adapted from the verse translation by H. W. Lumsden, 1881)

Works for orchestra
 1969–1970 Concerto a Capriccio, for Piano and Orchestra, opus 16 (new version: 2018)
 2001-2015 Song of Sorrow: In Memoriam 9/11 for Solo Violin and Orchestra, orchestration of chamber version
 1972-2018 Double Concerto for Two Pianos and Symphony Orchestra (re-orchestration of concert band version)
 1996-2018 Clarinet Concerto for B-flat Clarinet and Orchestra
 1989-2019 Symphony for String Orchestra
 2014-2019 Lyric Symphony for Orchestra [previous title: Symphony in A]
 1994-2019 Scherzo for Piano and Orchestra: Part of a longer Piano Concerto (Score in preparation)
 1989-2020 Symphonic Declamations for Orchestra
 2005–2020 Rhapsody for Orchestra [2020 Revision]
 1994- Symphony in B-flat: A Life of Discovery (Score in preparation)

Works for concert band
 1971–1972 Double Concerto "Amen Concerto", for Two Pianos and Wind Orchestra, opus 31 (Re-arranged for symphony orchestra, 2018)
 2014-2020 Wind Symphony for Woodwinds, Brass and Percussion

Masses and sacred music
 1963–1964 Prophecy of Micah, for Chorus SATB and organ (or piano), opus 1
 1963–1964 Lamb of God, for Chorus SATB a capella, opus 1A
 1990–1991 Missa Syllabica, for Chorus SATB a capella, opus 51 – text: Latin Mass Ordinary
 1990 Lord, Make Me An Instrument of Thy Peace, for Chorus SATB a capella, opus 52 – text: Francis of Assisi
 1990 Heaven, Dialogue for Chorus SATB and Echo Chorus SATB, opus 52a – text: George Herbert
 1990 Magnificat, for Female Chorus SSAA, opus 56
 1997 Today's Lord's Prayer, for Chorus SATB a capella, opus 96
 2009/2021 There Is A Spirit, for Chorus SATB a capella – text: James Nayler (1660)
 2020 Usquequo, Domine ["How Long, O Lord, Wilt Thou Forget Me?"] for Chorus SATB a Capella (Latin text: Psalm 12, Vulgate)
 2020 The Beatitudes for SATB Choir a Capella (Gospel of Matthew 5:1-10)
 2021 The Twenty-Third Psalm of David: A Requiem in These Times of Pandemic Loss for Chorus SAATB, Oboe, Trumpet and French Horn
 2021 The Lord Bless You and Keep You for Mixed Voices, Accompanied (piano or organ) (Text: Numbers 6:24-26)
 2021 The Song of Simeon for High Voice and Piano (Gospel of Luke 2:25-32)
 2021 Serenity - A Prayer for SATB Chorus a Capella; Lyrics: Serenity Prayer by Reinhold Niebuhr
 2021 Christ My Refuge for High Voice and Piano; Lyrics: Poem by Mary Baker Eddy
 2021 Prayer on the Third Step for Chorus SATB a Capella (Anonymous text)
 2021 The Highest Glory: A Lesson for a Capella Chorus SATB (KJV John VII:18)
 2021 MISSA DE ANGELIS (Mass of the Angels) for SATB Choir a Capella (Kyrie - Gloria - Credo - Sanctus - Agnus Dei) Based on Mass VIII in the Kyriale
 2021 Ministering Angels for Soprano and Keyboard (on the poem of that title by Adelaide Procter)
 2021 OUR FATHER, ADORABLE ONE for Double Chorus and Organ (The Lord's Prayer with the Spiritual Sense by Mary Baker Eddy)
 2022 Thine, O Lord, Is the Greatness for SATB Chorus and Organ (Text: I Chronicles 29:11-13)
 2022 A Short Requiem for SATB Chorus a Capella; text in Latin
 2022 Great Is the Lord A Psalm of David for Soprano and Piano (Psalm 40, excerpts, ESV)
 2022 MISA ESPAÑOLA A Symphonic Mass in Spanish for SATB Chorus and Orchestra
 2022 The Lord Is My Shepherd (Psalm 23) for Solo Voice or Unison SATB Choir
 2022 THOU ART GOD (Te Deum) for SATB Chorus and Organ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NUdyxbFNS7M
 2022 O Cross, More Splendid than All the Stars for SATB Chorus and Piano (English version) (Original Latin antiphon: O Crux Splendidior)
 2022 Lift up Your Heads, O Ye Gates for SATB Chorus and Organ (King James Version of Psalms 24:7-10)
 2023 Mass for World Peace for SATB Choir and Piano
 2023 100 Hymns for SATB Chorus a Cappella Original melodies and harmonizations, with some 20 texts by the composer himself

Other works for chorus
 1969–1995 Alas, Good Friend, for Chorus SATB a capella, opus 83 – text: Percy Bysshe Shelley
 1971 Peace Is Life for Chorus SATB a capella, opus 29 – text: Anonymous
 1971–1972 Yonder, for Chorus SATB a capella, opus 30 – text: Gerard Manley Hopkins, "The Leaden Echo and the Golden Echo"
 1975–1995 A Higher Glory, for Chorus SATB a capella, opus 82
 1989 Help Me, O Power Above, for Chorus SATB a capella, opus 41 – text: by the Composer
 1990 The Windhover, for 4-Part Women's Chorus, opus 50 – text: Gerard Manley Hopkins
 1990 Love-Canzonettes, for Chorus SATB a capella, opus 62 – text: John Dryden
 1990 The Clear Vision, for Men's Chorus (TTBB), opus 64 – text: John Greenleaf Whittier
 1994–1995 Evening Anthem, for Chorus SATB a capella, opus 85 – text: by the Composer
 1995–1996 In Praise of Our Loves, for Chorus SATB and Orchestra, opus 90 [Revised, 2020]
 1996 Three Short Sandburg Choruses, for Unison Choir (SA) and (TB), opus 91 – text: from Carl Sandburg's "Chicago Poems"
 Fog
 Nocturne in a Deserted Brickyard
 Grass
 1996 High Flight for Chorus SATB a capella with discant high soprano on the poem by John Gillespie Magee, in memory of the Space Shuttle Challenger astronauts
 1997 Flower of the Dharma, for Chorus SATB, Piano, and Percussion (or Chorus SATB and Orchestra), opus 93 – text: Lotus Sutra excerpts (withdrawn)
 1997 Two Songs of Innocence, for Chorus SATB a capella, opus 99 – text: William Blake's "Songs of Innocence." No. 1: On the Ecchoing Green; no. 2: Night
 1993–1997 Ascent, for Small Chorus of High Voices (or for two sopranos and one alto), opus 100 – text: Anne Morrow Lindbergh
 2008 Madrigals for Spring, for Chorus SATB a capella, opus 61 (Original version 1990) – text: Poetic Fragments by Percy Bysshe Shelley
 2018 Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor for SATB Chorus a Capella: Lyrics by Emma Lazarus, "The New Colossus"
 2019 The Dharma of Ecclesiastes on selections from the Book of Ecclesiastes in the Jewish Bible; for SATB chorus, a Capella
 2019 An Autumn Stroll for SATB Choir, String Quartet and Piano; text, original poems by the composer
 2020 Hope, My Closest Companion for SATB Chorus a Capella, text: Affirmations found on the Internet
 2020 THESEUS: A Dramatic Cantata after Bacchylides for SATB Chorus, Soli, Flute, Cello and Percussion [Text: Ode 17 by Bacchylides, c. 518 – c. 451 BCE, Translation by William Mullen]

Vocal music
 1964 To Hear an Oriole Sing for Soprano and Piano; Poem by Emily Dickinson
 1966 From Mozart for Baritone and Piano, text: William C. Mullen
 1968 She Weeps over Rahoon, for Contralto and Piano, opus 5 – text: James Joyce
 1969 Night-Leaves, for Baritone and Piano, text: William C. Mullen
 1970 Songs of a Wayside Inn, for Mezzo-soprano and Piano, opus 22 – text: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
 1970–1971 Six Songs, for Soprano and Piano, opus 28 – text: Kenneth Patchen
 1975/1989 A Round for Machaut, repeating canon in 4 keys for solo SATB voices or small SATB a capella Chorus, opus 40
 1990 Moabit Liederbuch, for Soprano and Piano, opus 66 – text: Sonnets by Albrecht Haushofer (New Edition, 2020)
 1993 Equinox, for Tenor and Piano, opus 88 – text: William C. Mullen
 1994–1995 Desert Hallucinations, for Baritone and Cello, opus 78 – text: Donald Rubinstein
 1990–1995 High Flight – In memory of the crew of the space shuttle, USS Challenger, which was destroyed in 1986 after launch, for Solo Soprano and Chorus SATB a capella, opus 81 – text: John G. Magee Jr.
 1997 Songs of the Pure Land, for Mezzo-soprano and Piano, opus 101 – text: Japanese poems by Honen Shonin (Japan, 1133–1212)
 1998 The Lamentations of Shinran, for Soprano, Tenor, and String Quartet, opus 104 – text: from Shozomatsu Wasan, by Shinran Shonin (Japan, 1173–1262) (2020 Edition)
 1998 (2019 ed.)Two Life-Spring Songs for Coloratura Soprano and Piano, on poems by Aureet Bar-Yam
 1999 Songlets, for Mezzo-soprano, Clarinet and Piano, opus 106 – text: Haiku by Issa Kobayashi
 2000 Owl Night, for Soprano and Piano, opus 112 – text: Susan Spilecki, "Owl Night"
 2005 Songs from the Chinese, 10 Songs for Soprano, Flute, Double Bass, and Piano – text: Chinese San Chu poems of the Yuan dynasty
 2013 Others for Baritone, Violin and Piano – text: Jun Fujita
 2014 A Night-Piece for Mezzo-Soprano and Piano - text: William Wordsworth
 2014 Songs of the Buddha's Stone Footprints for Bass-Baritone, Percussion, Flute, Oboe and String Quartet, Text: from "A Waka Anthology, Vol. 1"
 2013-16 Three Songs from Walt Whitman for Mezzo-Soprano, Flute and Piano
 2017 Through the Seasons with Haiku Master Buson for Flute, Double Bass, Piano and Reciter, 38 newly discovered poems by Yosa Buson translated by Chris Drake
 2017 In a Daffodil Valley for Soprano and Piano, 18 haiku by Eiko Yachimoto
 2018 Songs of the Winter Sea,  11 songs for Soprano and Piano on tanka by an'ya
 2018 The First Bird's Song for Soprano, Flute and Harp, 23 songs on haiku by Koko Kato
 2018 Songs of Joy for Soprano, Flute, Violin and Cello; on three pentaptychs (groups of 5) of tanka by Joy McCall
 2018 Remembrance: 10 Cherita for Soprano and Piano on Cherita Poems by Poet ai li
 2018 Songs of a Waking Cosmos for Soprano and Piano on 10 Cherita Poems by the Composer
 2019 Evocations of Spring and Autumn for Soprano and Piano (on 14 tanka by an'ya)
 2016/2020 Return to Our Original Home: A Pure Land Buddhist Song for Soprano and Piano; text: Shandao
 2015/2020 Birds: Four Songs for Soprano and Piano on poems by William Wordsworth
 2021 Sorrow and Hope: A Prayer to Kuan Yin for Soprano and Piano

Chamber music
 1967–1968 Dreamscapes, for Violin and Piano, opus 6
 1968 Three Movements, for Violin and Piano, opus 7
 1970 Duo-Sonata, for Two Violins, opus 20
 1970 Christmas Trio, for Flute, Cello and Piano, opus 25
 1972 Color Studies "Transfiguration", for Violin, Viola and Cello, opus 33
 1975 Canzona, for String Quartet, opus 36
 1978 Sonata for Solo Flute (withdrawn)
 1989 Ragtime Caprice for Violin and Piano (2018 ed.)
 1990 String Quartet no. 1, opus 59 [Revised, 2020]
 1991 Sonata for Solo Violin [Revised, 2021]
 1990–1996 Eucaphonies, for Brass Quintet, opus 89
 1991–1993 String Quartet no. 2, opus 71
 1994 rev.1996 Fantastic Rhapsody, for Trumpet, Violin and Piano, opus 76
 1996 Inventings, for Flute and Oboe, opus 92
 1997–2005 Three Movements for Wind Quintet, WoO
 1998 The Lamentations of Shinran for Soprano, Tenor and String Quartet, on 16 poems by Shinran Shonin (2020 Edition)
 1999 Seven Dhamma Lessons, for Speaker, Flute, Oboe, Piano and Percussion, opus 107
 2000 Sonata for Clarinet and Piano, opus 108
 2000 From "Children of the Sparrow", Musical Reactions to Haiku by Robert Gibson for Speaker, Flute and Piano, opus 113
 2001 Song of Sorrow, In Memory of September 11, 2001, for Violin and Piano, opus 114
 2005 String Quartet no. 3
 2005 Outburst for Double Bass and Piano (also available for Cello and Piano)
 2006 Explorations for Clarinet and Piano
 2009 The Hermit for solo Double Bass, also in a version for solo Cello
 2009 An Idyll for Solo Flute
 2010 Energies for 4 Players for Flute, Violin, Double Bass, and Piano
 2006–2013 Octatonic Fugue for String Quartet
 2013 Karmic Dancing for Solo Flute
 2014 Whimsies for Violin, Viola and Cello
 2015 Sonata for Solo Cello
 1978/2018 Nine Soliloquies for Solo Flute (extensively revised from 1978 edition, earlier edition withdrawn)
 2018 Stabat Mater for String Quartet, also arranged for Consort of Viols
 2019 Fantastic Rhapsody for Flute, Viola and Piano (new version on 1994 original)
 2019 Study in Thirds for String Quintet
 2020 Mystic Visions for Flute, Piano and Double Bass
 2020 Sonata Appassionata for Cello and Piano
 2020 Reminiscence for Violin and Piano
 2020 String Quartet no. 4 ('Ad Fugam') (Eleven movements, in strict 4-part canon throughout)
 2021 REMEMBRANCE for the Many Victims of COVID19 for Flute, Double Bass and Piano
 2021 Truth A Song for Soprano and Piano on the Poem by Muriel Rada
 2021 Our Father Meditation for Woodwind Quintet
 2021 Two Paschal Elegies for Woodwind Quintet
 2021 October: 26 Songs for Soprano and Flute on tanka by Joy McCall

Works for organ
 1963 In Thy Name (2022 revision)
 1990 Testimonium, opus 48
 1990 Two Classic Chorales
 1995 Jubilance (revised 2021)
 2007 Wrestling with Angels (expanded from 1997 version)
 2016/2020 Praise the Glorious Light (Revised Edition, earlier 2016 version withdrawn)
 2021 Voluntary in F
 2021 Fugue in C Major
 2022 Triumphant Recessional

Works for solo piano
 1965 Three Romantic Pieces: Waltz - Melody - Dance
 1966 Piano Piece no. 1, opus 3
 1967 Piano Piece no. 2, opus 4
 1968–1969 Sonata no. 1, opus 8
 1969 Serenade, opus 9
 1969 Fantasy, opus 10
 1969 Divertimento, for Piano Four-Hands, opus 13
 1969 Toccata-Rag, opus 14
 1968–1970 Four Concert Dances, opus 15
 1970 Rondo in F for Solo Piano (2010 ed.)
 1970 Two Piano Pieces, opus 17
 1970 Sonata no. 2, opus 18
 1970 Eight Piano Pieces for Children, opus 21
 1970 Five Folk-Pieces, opus 23
 1970 Four Preludes and Counterpoints, opus 24
 1971 Sonata no. 3, opus 27
 1972 Batik, opus 32
 1973 Sonata no. 4, opus 34
 1974 Sonata no. 5, opus 35
 1989 Seven Dedications – in honor of Aaron Copland, Igor Stravinsky,  Carl Ruggles, Charles Ives, Alan Hovhaness, Roger Sessions and Arnold Schoenberg, opus 39
 1989 Touch-Tones: Four Avant-garde Pieces for Solo Piano
 1989 Ragañera, opus 42
 1989 Champion Rag, opus 43
 1989 Ragtime Serenade, opus 44
 1989 Blue Rag Espagnole, opus 45
 1989 Sentimental Rag, opus 42
 1989–1990 Starry-eyed Rag, opus 49
 1989 Iron Filings, opus 60
 1989 Short and Sweet Rag, opus 70
 1989 Sparkling Rag, opus 72
 1989 Persistence Rag, opus 75
 1989–1990 Etiquette Rag, opus 80
 1990 Jubilant Rag, opus 54
 1990 Peloponnesian Rag, opus 55
 1990 Amendments, opus 65
 1990 Easy Sonata in C Major, a Completion of Ludwig van Beethoven's fragmentary sonata, WoO 51
 1990–1992 Variations on a Hallowe'en Costume, opus 68
 1990–1997 Suite for the Piano Alone, opus 102
 1993 Plaint for Somalia, opus 69
 1993–1994 Ballade in D for Piano, opus 77
 1994 ...suggestions..., opus 73
 1994 Moon Flowers (50 Haiku-Moments for Solo Piano), opus 74
 1994–1995 Sonata no. 6,  opus 84
 1997 Ragtime Sonata (Sonata no. 7), opus 97
 1997 Beautiful Mountain Rag, opus 98
 1998 Tango Request, opus 103
 1999 Adagio Espressivo for Solo Piano
 2000 Nocturne in G, opus 109
 2000 Odysseus Rag, opus 110
 2000 Five Thoughtful Pieces, opus 111
 2008 Sonata no. 8
 1998–2010 Bachiana Dodecafonica: 5 Preludes and Fugues
 2010 Sonatina (Withdrawn) See: Sonata no. 10
 2011 Bachiana Dodecafonica (Expanded edition: 6 Preludes and Fugues)
 2010–2012 Introduction to the Piano: 32 Piano Pieces for Beginning Pianists
 1999-2013 Dodecafughetta In Memoriam: Glenn Gould
 2010/2017 Sonata No. 9 in Olden Style
 2015 Petite Sonatine
 2017 Sonata no. 10 (originally Sonatina [2010] but considerably expanded)
 2017 Transcendental Studies in Twelve Movements
 2018 Vocalises in 8 movements
 2018 Melody in one movement
 2012/2019 Sonata no. 11 (formerly Ballade no. 2, expanded and revised)
 2019 Three Musical Moments
 1989/2019 Second Ragtime Sonata (Sonata no. 12)
 2019 Sonata no. 13
 2020 Album for the Young Pianist: 31 Pieces Easy to Difficult
 2020 Six Strange Waltzes (original sketch 2009; fully edited and revised 2020)
 2020 Blue Moments, Two short, Jazz-influenced pieces
 2020 Funeral Day: The Victims of COVID19
 2020 Prélude Sérieux pour Piano
 2020 Rage over the Lost Cable
 2020 A Game of Chords
 2021 Piano Sonata 14
 2021 Toccata Impromptu
 2021 Spur of the Moment (27-28 April 2021)
 2021 Fantasy Moments

Works for harpsichord
 1990/1998 Toccata Moderna, opus 105

Works for carillon
 1964 Statement for Bells, opus 2
 1997 Diamond Cutter, opus 94
 2018 Rejouissance for Bells for carillon

Arrangements of other composers
 Ut heremita solus by Johannes Ockeghem, untexted motet arr. for String Quartet and for Recorder Quartet
 Missa Mente tota by Adrian Willaert, transcribed for 6-voice a cappella chorus
 Missa Gaudeamus by Josquin des Prez, transcribed for 4-voice a cappella chorus
 Missa Sine nomine by Adrian Willaert, transcribed for 5-voice a cappella chorus
 Adieu mes amours by Josquin des Prez, French chanson a 4 transcribed for three voices and lute
 C'est boccané de soy tenir by Adrian Willaert, 4-voice French chanson
 Four Basque Christmas Carols for 3 or 4 voices, harmonized and arranged by Richard St. Clair

Poetry
 1989-2007 Fixed Forms: Sestinas, Sonnets, and Other Regulated Poems
 2016 A Promise Kept: A Tanka Sequence (English/Japanese)
 2017 Nature's Bounty: A Modern Waka Collection
 2019 A Century of Sonnets: One Hundred Poems by Richard St. Clair

References

Bibliography
 Wolfgang Suppan, Armin Suppan: Das Neue Lexikon des Blasmusikwesens, 4. Auflage, Freiburg-Tiengen, Blasmusikverlag Schulz GmbH, 1994,
 Paul E. Bierley, William H. Rehrig: The heritage encyclopedia of band music : composers and their music, Westerville, Ohio: Integrity Press, 1991,
 E. Ruth Anderson: Contemporary American composers – A biographical dictionary, Second edition, Boston: G. K. Hall, 1982, 578 p.,
 E. Ruth Anderson: Contemporary American composers – A biographical dictionary, 1st ed., Boston: G. K. Hall, 1976, 513 p.,
 Who's Who in America 2009, 63rd ed., Marquis Who's Who, 2008,
 The American Piano Concerto Compendium (Music Finders) Rowman & Littlefield Publishers; Second edition (June 20, 2018), 322 p.

External links

  Richard St. Clair, Today's Lord's Prayer world premiere recording 1997
  CD of from 'Children of the Sparrow' - Recorded by Row Twelve, 2006
  Part One  Part Two  Part 3 - Richard St. Clair: Dharma Chant, A Buddhist Oratorio in Three Parts, Recorded by the Commonwealth Chorale, Newton Massachusetts, in May, 2016

1946 births
Living people
21st-century American composers
21st-century American male musicians
American male composers
Composers for carillon
Harvard University alumni
People from Jamestown, North Dakota
Pupils of Roger Sessions

Richard St. Clair


Anton Räderscheidt (11 October 1892 – 8 March 1970) was a German painter who was a leading figure of the New Objectivity.

Life and career
Räderscheidt was born in Cologne. His father was a schoolmaster who also wrote poetry. From 1910 to 1914, Räderscheidt studied at the Academy of Düsseldorf. He was severely wounded  in the First World War, during which he fought at Verdun. After the war he returned to Cologne, where in 1919 he cofounded the artists' group Stupid with other members of the local constructivist and Dada scene. The group was short-lived, as Räderscheidt was by 1920 abandoning constructivism for a magic realist style. In 1925 he participated in the Neue Sachlichkeit ("New Objectivity") exhibition at the Mannheim Kunsthalle.

Many of the works Räderscheidt produced in the 1920s depict a stiffly posed, isolated couple that usually bear the features of Räderscheidt and his wife, the painter Marta Hegemann. The influence of metaphysical art is apparent in the way the mannequin-like figures stand detached from their environment and from each other. A pervasive theme is the incompatibility of the sexes, according to the art historian Dennis Crockett. Few of Räderscheidt's works from this era survive, because most of them were either seized by the Nazis as degenerate art and destroyed, or were destroyed in Allied bombing raids. His work was also part of the painting event in the art competition at the 1932 Summer Olympics.

His marriage to Marta ended in 1933. From 1934 to 1935 he lived in Berlin. He fled to France in 1936, and settled in Paris, where his work became more colorful, curvilinear and rhythmic. He was interned by the occupation authorities in 1940, but he escaped to Switzerland. In 1949 he returned to Cologne and resumed his work, producing many paintings of horses shortly before adopting an abstract style in 1957.

Räderscheidt was to return to the themes of his earlier work in some of his paintings of the 1960s. After suffering a stroke in 1967, he had to relearn the act of painting. He produced a penetrating series of self-portraits in gouache in the final years of his life. Anton Räderscheidt died in Cologne in 1970.

Notes

References
Crockett, Dennis (1999). German Post-Expressionism: the Art of the Great Disorder 1918-1924. University Park, Pa.: Pennsylvania State University Press.
Michalski, Sergiusz (1994). New Objectivity. Cologne: Benedikt Taschen.
Schmied, Wieland (1978). Neue Sachlichkeit and German Realism of the Twenties. London: Arts Council of Great Britain.

External links
http://www.raederscheidt.com

1892 births
1970 deaths
Artists from Cologne
20th-century German painters
20th-century German male artists
German male painters
Modern painters
Olympic competitors in art competitions

Anton Räderscheidt


In ballet, turnout (also turn-out) is rotation of the leg at the hips which causes the feet (and knees) to turn outward, away from the front of the body. This rotation allows for greater extension of the leg, especially when raising it to the side and rear. Turnout is an essential part of classical ballet technique.

Turnout is measured in terms of the angle between the center lines of the feet when heels are touching, as in first position. Complete turnout (a 180° angle) is rarely attainable without conditioning.
Various exercises are used to improve turnout by increasing hip flexibility (to improve movement range), strengthening buttocks muscles (to enable a dancer to maintain turnout), or both.

Physiology

In properly executed turnout, the legs must rotate at the hips. If turnout is achieved via lateral rotation in the knee joint (vs. at the hip), the knee will still face forward. This is considered to be less aesthetically pleasing and can cause knee injury.

Some dancers will use an anterior pelvic tilt (shortening the hip flexors) because hip flexion reduces the tension on the ligament and allows lateral hip rotation to occur more easily. This will however, affect the dancer's posture, since it requires the back to hyper-extend to remain upright.

The extent to which an individual can rotate their legs is largely predetermined. The degree of turnout attainable is determined by the shape of the femoral neck and the angle at which the femoral head is inserted into the hip socket, the orientation of the hip socket, the elasticity of the iliofemoral ligament, and the flexibility of the hip and thigh muscles. However, the structure of the bone may be influenced by ballet exercises before a certain period of bone development attained around the age of eleven.

See also
Health risks of professional dance

References

Sources

Ballet technique
Ballet terminology
Dance and health

Turnout (ballet)


Lovedean is a village in the East Hampshire district of Hampshire, England. It is 1.4 miles (2.2 km) west of Horndean.

The nearest railway station is Rowlands Castle, 2.8 miles (4.6 km) southeast of the village. Although this is the nearest it is not readily accessible by public transport, for public transport the best is Cosham

The village of Lovedean is situated around the main road Lovedean Lane, situated at the bottom of the valley after which it is named. Dean is from the old English word Denu, meaning valley. [The name Lovedean derives from a marriage in 1594 when Isabel Norton married Thomas Loveden , and included in the dowry was part of the Manor of Catherington plus an area known as the Manor of Lovedean]

Lovedean Village Hall is well used, there were two pubs, The Green Dragon which closed December 2011,  and became a Tesco Express March 2012, and The Bird in Hand The Bird in Hand is owned by the same company that runs the Hurdles, a similar pub in Droxford as well as a few shops. The FA Cup trophy was hidden at The Bird in Hand during the Second World War, having been won by Portsmouth a few months before the outbreak of the war in 1939. Lovedean is home to Woodcroft Primary School and has a sizeable 400 kV electrical substation.

Lovedean is described as a "manor of Catherington" on the British History Online website here

References

External links

Villages in Hampshire

Lovedean


James Richard Barthmaier (; born January 6, 1984) is a former American professional baseball pitcher.

Professional Baseball Career

Houston Astros
Barthmaier was drafted by the Houston Astros in the 13th round (389th overall) of the 2003 Major League Baseball draft out of Roswell High School in Roswell, Georgia. At the time, he was the first player drafted out of Roswell High School since the Kansas City Royals drafted Ken Ray in 1993. In 2005, with the Lexington Legends, Barthmaier was a South Atlantic League Mid-Season All Star, a SAL Post-Season All Star, and a Baseball America Low Class A All Star. Barhmaier also won SAL pitcher of the week twice, June 12 and August 7, 2005. In 2005, Barthmaier pitched one game for the Salem Avalanche of the Carolina League, pitching six innings in relief. Barthmaier spent the 2006 season with Salem, pitching 146 2/3 innings with a 3.62 ERA. He won Carolina League pitcher of the week on August 20, 2006. Barthmaier was claimed off waivers by the Pittsburgh Pirates on November 20, 2007.

Pittsburgh Pirates
The Pittsburgh Pirates claimed Barthmaier on waivers on November 20, 2007. He made his Major League Baseball debut with Pittsburgh on June 27, 2008. He took the loss, giving up 7 runs in 2 1/3 innings against the Tampa Bay Rays; giving up home runs to Evan Longoria and Eric Hinske, but striking out Scott Kazmir and Carlos Peña.  Coming into the 2009 season, Barthmaier was rated the number 12 prospect in the Pirates' farm system by Baseball America. After facing two batters, Barthmaier exited his first 2009 start with an elbow injury and needed Tommy John surgery. During the 2009 and 2010 spring trainings, he was sent to the team's Triple-A affiliate, the Indianapolis Indians. On May 26, 2010, Barthmaier was sent to the Pirates' Single A affiliate, the Bradenton Marauders.
He appeared in two games for the Marauders, allowing a run in three innings.
Barthmaier, who was recovering from Tommy John surgery, then headed to the Pirates' Double A affiliate, the Altoona Curve, on June 2, 2010. He appeared in five games for the Curve, allowing 4 earned runs in 3 innings. The Pirates released Barthmaier on June 23, 2010.

Washington Nationals
The Washington Nationals signed Barthmaier on June 29, 2010. He finished the 2010 season with the GCL Nationals in the Gulf Coast League and the Potomac Nationals of the Carolina League. In 2011, Barthmaier pitched for the Double A Harrisburg Senators, posting a 5.05 ERA in 67 2/3 innings.

References

External links

1984 births
Living people
Martinsville Astros players
Greeneville Astros players
Lexington Legends players
Salem Avalanche players
Corpus Christi Hooks players
Altoona Curve players
Indianapolis Indians players
Pittsburgh Pirates players
Bradenton Marauders players
Gulf Coast Nationals players
Potomac Nationals players
Harrisburg Senators players
Baseball players from Roswell, Georgia
Baseball players from Atlanta

Jimmy Barthmaier


Ernst Lindenbauer (18 November 1881 Lichtenegg/Wels – 22 April 1961 Vienna) was Chief Rider from 1919 - 1950 at the Spanish Riding School in Vienna.

Lindenbauer was born in Lichtenegg/Wels, Upper Austria, the son of a farmer. He took his first riding lessons at the age of 13. He had considerable natural talent, so after he finished school in 1895, he  became a student at the stables of Archduke Franz Salvator in Lichtenegg, where he was instructed in riding, driving and other aspects of handling horses. During his apprenticeship, Lindenbauer learned not only to school horses in dressage, but did also horse racing and drag hunting.

In 1900, he volunteered for military service in the "6th Dragoon Regiment" in Wels, returning after three years to the service of Archduke Franz Salvator. From there he moved to Vienna, where on November 20, 1906 he entered the  Imperial Campaign Riding School (Hofstallungen)  as a student (Hofreitskolar). Later he was promoted to a Class II and then a Class I rider (Bereiter). During his time there, Lindenbauer trained young horses for the program (Hofmarstall) and he occasionally had the opportunity to train a few horses for Emperor Franz Josef that were used for parades and maneuvers.

In 1919, Lindenbauer was posted to a position at the Spanish Riding School.  He was then promoted to Chief Rider (Oberbereiter) in 1926.  In that position, he played a substantial role in the preservation of the Spanish Riding School in the difficult interwar period as Central Europe changed from a monarchy to a republic.  Although he was a quiet and introverted individual, he was one of the mainstays of the Spanish Riding School in his time.

Sources
Podhajsky, Alois. "Deutsche Reiterhefte", Berlin 7. November 1941
Podhajsky, Alois. "My Horses, My Teachers" (excerpts) Doubleday & Company, Inc., Garden City, New York. 1968

1881 births
1961 deaths
Dressage riders
Dressage trainers
Spanish Riding School

Ernst Lindenbauer


A living room is a room in a home. The living room in a home is shared by the people living in the home. In the living room they talk with each other and their guests and do other things such as reading or watching television. The furniture can include a couch, chairs, tables, lamps, a television, curtains and pictures. People may have started using the compound word, living room, in the early twentieth century.

References
Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language. G. & C. Merriam Company.
Concise Oxford English Dictionary. Tenth Edition. Oxford University Press.
The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Third Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company.
stylish curtains for living room

Home
Rooms

Living room


The Pirani gauge is a robust thermal conductivity gauge used for the measurement of the pressures in vacuum systems. It was invented in 1906 by Marcello Pirani.

Marcello Stefano Pirani was a German physicist working for Siemens & Halske which was involved in the vacuum lamp industry. In 1905 their product was tantalum lamps which required a high vacuum environment for the filaments. The gauges that Pirani was using in the production environment were some fifty McLeod gauges, each filled with 2 kg of mercury in glass tubes.

Pirani was aware of the gas thermal conductivity investigations of Kundt and Warburg (1875) published thirty years earlier and the work of Marian Smoluchowski (1898). In 1906 he described his "directly indicating vacuum gauge" that used a heated wire to measure vacuum by monitoring the heat transfer from the wire by the vacuum environment.

Structure
The Pirani gauge consists of a metal sensor wire (usually gold plated tungsten or platinum) suspended in a tube which is connected to the system whose vacuum is to be measured. The wire is usually coiled to make the gauge more compact. The connection is usually made either by a ground glass joint or a flanged metal connector, sealed with an o-ring. The sensor wire is connected to an electrical circuit from which, after calibration, a pressure reading may be taken.

Mode of operation

In order to understand the technology, consider that in a gas filled system there are four ways that a heated wire transfers heat to its surroundings.

 Gas conduction at high pressure  (r representing the distance from the heated wire)
 Gas transport at low pressure
 Thermal radiation
 End losses through the support structures

A heated metal wire (sensor wire, or simply sensor) suspended in a gas will lose heat to the gas as its molecules collide with the wire and remove heat. If the gas pressure is reduced, the number of molecules present will fall proportionately and the wire will lose heat more slowly. Measuring the heat loss is an indirect indication of pressure.

There are three possible schemes that can be done.

 Keep the bridge voltage constant and measure the change in resistance as a function of pressure
 Keep the current constant and measure the change in resistance as a function of pressure
 Keep the temperature of the sensor wire constant and measure the voltage as a function of pressure

Note that keeping the temperature constant implies that the end losses(4.) and the thermal radiation losses (3.) are constant.

The electrical resistance of a wire varies with its temperature, so the resistance indicates the temperature of wire. In many systems, the wire is maintained at a constant resistance R by controlling the current I through the wire. The resistance can be set using a bridge circuit.  The current required to achieve this balance is therefore a measure of the vacuum.

The gauge may be used for pressures between 0.5 Torr to 1×10−4 Torr. Below 5×10−4 Torr, a Pirani gauge has only one significant digit of resolution. The thermal conductivity and heat capacity of the gas affects the readout from the meter, and therefore the apparatus may need calibrating before accurate readings are obtainable. For lower pressure measurement, the thermal conductivity of the gas becomes increasingly smaller and more difficult to measure accurately, and other instruments such as a Penning gauge  or Bayard–Alpert gauge are used instead.

Pulsed Pirani gauge
A special form of the Pirani gauge is the pulsed Pirani vacuum gauge where the sensor wire is not operated at a constant temperature, but is cyclically heated up to a certain temperature threshold by an increasing voltage ramp. When the threshold is reached, the heating voltage is switched off and the sensor cools down again. The required heat-up time is used as a measure of pressure.

For adequately low pressure, the following first-order dynamic thermal response model relating supplied heating power  and sensor temperature T(t) applies:

where  and  are specific heat and emissivity of the sensor wire (material properties),   and  are surface area and mass of the sensor wire, and  and  are constants determined for each sensor in calibration.

Advantages and disadvantages of the pulsed gauge
Advantages
Significantly better resolution in the range above 75 Torr.
The power consumption is drastically reduced compared to continuously operated Pirani gauges.
The gauge's thermal influence on the real measurement is lowered considerably due to the low temperature threshold of 80 °C and the ramp heating in pulsed mode.
The pulsed mode can be efficiently implemented using modern microprocessors.

Disadvantages
Increased calibration effort
Longer heat-up phase

Alternative
An alternative to the Pirani gauge is the thermocouple gauge, which works on the same principle of detecting thermal conductivity of the gas by a change in temperature.  In the thermocouple gauge, the temperature is sensed by a thermocouple rather than by the change in resistance of the heated wire.

References

External links
 http://homepages.thm.de/~hg8831/vakuumlabor/litera.htm

Vacuum gauges
Pressure gauges

Pirani gauge


Pavel Haas composed his second string quartet, Op. 7, titled "From the Monkey Mountains" (Czech: "Z opičích hor"), in 1925, three years after he finished his composition studies in Leoš Janáček´s masterclass.

Background
The title of the quartet is somewhat provocative: in Czech, the "Monkey Mountains" used to be the nickname of the Vysočina Region (Moravian Highlands), an area once popular with tourists. The work was premièred in Brno on 16 March 1926, by the Moravian Quartet. The first performance was not well received, however: in the last movement, Haas added a percussionist, in combination with other unusual musical elements, and this daring experiment was not appreciated by the audience. Haas subsequently removed the percussion, though several modern performances and recordings have reinstated it.

Structure
The composition consists of four movements:
1. Landscape (Krajina) - Andante
2. Coach, Coachman and Horse (Kočár, kočí a kůň) - Andante
3. The Moon and I... (Měsíc a já...) - Largo e misterioso
4. Wild Night (Divá noc) - Vivace e con fuoco

The titles of the four movements give the impression of a series of atmospheric scenes from a summer recreation. The first part opens in a calm atmosphere, and gradually develops into a monumental movement with a rich onomatopoeic structure. The opening theme and tempo of the second movement are closely related to that of the first one, evoking the coach, coachman and horse of the title. The third part, "Moon and I..." is the most personal movement of the composition, with a festive climax followed by a return to the atmosphere and material of the opening movement. The closing movement uses folk melodies mixed with jazz elements and with unusual application of the percussion instruments.

The approximate duration of the work is 32 minutes.

References

External links
 Info on Czech Radio

Haas
1925 compositions
Compositions by Pavel Haas

String Quartet No. 2 (Haas)


Reinforcement learning (RL) is teaching a software agent how to behave in an environment by telling it how well it's doing. It is an area of machine learning inspired by behaviorist psychology.

Reinforcement learning is different from supervised learning because the correct inputs and outputs are never shown. Also, reinforcement learning usually learns as it goes (online learning) unlike supervised learning. This means an agent has to choose between exploring and sticking with what it knows best.

Introduction

A reinforcement learning system is made of a policy (), a reward function (), a value function (), and an optional model of the environment.

A policy tells the agent what to do in a certain situation. It can be a simple table of rules, or a complicated search for the correct action. Policies can even be stochastic, which means instead of rules the policy assigns probabilities to each action. A policy by itself can make an agent do things, but it can't learn on its own.

A reward function defines the goal for an agent. It takes in a state (or a state and the action taken at that state) and gives back a number called the reward, which tells the agent how good it is to be in that state. The agent's job is to get the biggest amount of reward it possibly can in the long run. If an action yields a low reward, the agent will probably take a better action in the future. Biology uses reward signals like pleasure or pain to make sure organisms stay alive to reproduce. Reward signals can also be stochastic, like a slot machine at a casino, where sometimes they pay and sometimes they don't.

A value function tells an agent how much reward it will get following a policy  starting from state . It represents how desirable it is to be in a certain state. Since the value function isn't given to the agent directly, it needs to come up with a good guess or estimate based on the reward it's gotten so far. Value function estimation is the most important part of most reinforcement learning algorithms.

A model is the agent's mental copy of the environment. It's used to plan future actions.

Knowing this, we can talk about the main loop for a reinforcement learning episode. The agent interacts with the environment in discrete time steps. Think of it like the "tick-tock" of a clock. With discrete time, things only happen during the "ticks" and the "tocks", and not in between. At each time , the agent observes the environment's state  and picks an action  based on a policy . The next time step, the agent receives a reward signal  and a new observation . The value function  is updated using the reward. This continues until a terminal state  is reached.

Related pages
The biology behind Reinforcement learning can be found at:
Operant conditioning
Reward

References

Artificial intelligence
Learning

Reinforcement learning


The Id, ego, and super-ego are ideas created by Sigmund Freud. They are three concepts used to explain the way the human mind works.

Freud describes the human mind as interaction of id, ego, super-ego. The ego, and to some extent the super-ego, is conscious or on the surface. The id remains unconscious. Together they make up the personality.

According to this model of the psyche, the id is the set of uncoordinated instinctual trends; the ego is the organized realistic part; and the super-ego plays the critical and moralising role.

The id, ego and super-ego are functions of the mind, not parts of the brain. They do not correspond one-to-one with actual structures of the kind dealt with by neuroscience.

Id
The id represents a constant in the personality as it is always present. The id is governed by the 'pleasure principle'.

Early in the development of his theory Freud saw sexual energy as the only source of energy for the id. After the tragedy of World War I, however, Freud felt it necessary to add another instinct to the id. So, he proposed thanatos, the death instinct. Thanatos accounts for the instinctual violent urges of humankind. Obviously, the rest of the personality would have somehow to deal with these two instincts. By adding thanatos, he could describe more mental phenomena. His idea of id had wide influence.

The id is unconscious by definition:
"It is the dark, inaccessible part of our personality... It is filled with energy reaching it from the instincts, but it has no organisation, produces no collective will, but only a striving to bring about the satisfaction of the instinctual needs subject to the observance of the pleasure principle".105/6

Ego
The ego is the sense of self and the surface of the personality, the part you usually show the world. The ego is governed by the 'reality principle', or a practical approach to the world. It seeks to turn the id's drive to behaviour which brings benefits in the long term rather than grief.

Conscious awareness resides in the ego, although not all of the operations of the ego are conscious.

The ego separates out what is real. It helps us to organise our thoughts and make sense of them and the world around us.
"The ego is that part of the id which has been modified by the direct influence of the external world ... The ego represents what may be called reason and common sense, in contrast to the id, which contains the passions ... in its relation to the id it is like a man on horseback, who has to hold in check the superior strength of the horse; with this difference, that the rider tries to do so with his own strength, while the ego uses borrowed forces".363/4

But the ego "serves three severe masters...the external world, the super-ego and the id".110 Its task is to find a balance between primitive drives and reality while satisfying the id and super-ego. "Thus the ego, driven by the id, confined by the super-ego, repulsed by reality, struggles...[in] bringing about harmony among the forces and influences working in and upon it, and readily 'breaks out in anxiety".110/1

Super-Ego
The Super-ego aims for perfection and the ideal outcome. It comprises that part of the personality, mainly unconscious, which includes the individual's ego ideals, spiritual goals, and the psychic agency (commonly called "conscience") that criticises and prohibits his or her drives, fantasies, feelings, and actions.
"The Super-ego can be thought of as a type of conscience that punishes misbehavior with feelings of guilt. For example: having extra-marital affairs".

The superego consists of two parts, the conscience and the ego-ideal. The conscience is the familiar metaphor of angel and devil on each shoulder. The conscience decides what course of action one should take. The ego-ideal is an idealized view of one's self. Comparisons are made between the ego-ideal and one's actual behavior. Both parts of the super-ego develop through experience with others or via social interactions. According to Freud, a strong super-ego serves to inhibit the biological instincts of the id, while a weak super-ego gives in to the id's urgings. Further, the levels of guilt in the two cases above will be high and low, respectively.

References

Sigmund Freud
Psychoanalysis

Id, ego, and super-ego


The Emerson effect is the increase in the rate of photosynthesis after chloroplasts are exposed to light of wavelength 680 nm (deep red spectrum) and more than 680 nm (far red spectrum). When simultaneously exposed to light of both wavelengths, the rate of photosynthesis is far higher than the sum of the red light and far red light photosynthesis rates. The effect was early evidence that two photosystems, processing different wavelengths, cooperate in photosynthesis.

History
Robert Emerson described the eponymous effect in 1957. In his paper he observed that:
 When plants are exposed to light having wavelength greater than 680 nm, then only one photosystem is activated; i.e. PS700 resulting in formation of ATP only.
 When plants are exposed to light having wavelength less than 680 nm, the rate of photosynthesis was very low.
 On giving both shorter and higher wavelengths of light, the efficiency of the process increased, because both photosystems were working together at the same time, resulting in higher yield.

Description
When Emerson exposed green plants to differing wavelengths of light, he noticed that at wavelengths of greater than 680 nm the efficiency of photosynthesis decreased abruptly despite the fact that this is a region of the spectrum where chlorophyll still absorbs light (chlorophyll is the green pigment in plants - it absorbs mainly the red and blue wavelengths from light). When the plants were exposed to short-wavelength light, (less than 660 nm), the efficiency also decreased.
Emerson then exposed the plants to both short and long wavelengths at the same time, causing the efficiency to increase greatly. He concluded that there must be two different photosystems involved in photosynthesis, one driven by short-wavelength light and one driven by long-wavelength (PS1 and PS2). They work together to enhance efficiency and convert the light energy to forms that can be absorbed by the plant.

The light excites the chlorophyll molecules at the reaction centre and causes an increase in energy. As the molecule becomes less excited, its energy is transported through a chain of electron carriers to the next photosystem which does much the same thing and produces energy-carrying organic molecules.

References

External links
Emerson Effect at Botany Dictionary
everything2.com
Emersion Effect in details at Plantphysiol.org

Photosynthesis
Biochemistry

Emerson effect


Brittia (), according to Procopius, was an island known to the inhabitants of the Low Countries under Frankish rule (viz. the North Sea coast of Austrasia), corresponding both to a real island used for burial and a mythological Isle of the Blessed, to which the souls of the dead are transported.

Procopius's Brittia lies no farther than 200 stadia (25 miles) from the mainland, opposite the mouth of the Rhine but between the islands of Brettania and legendary Thule, and three nations live in it, Angiloi,  Phrissones and Brittones, that is, Angles, Frisians and Britons. Procopius mentions a wall in Brittia, which he distinguishes from Bretannia, however, and fertile lands. "It is perhaps only the apparently authentic combinations of names, Angles, Frisians and Britons, which demands hard attention to this interlude in serious Byzantine discussions of the Gothic wars," H. R. Loyn warns.

Procopius relates that

They imagine that the souls of the dead are transported to that island. On the coast of the continent there dwell under Frankish sovereignty, but hitherto exempt from all taxation, fishers and farmers, whose duty it is to ferry the souls over. This duty they take in turn. Those to whom it falls on any night, go to bed at dusk; at midnight they hear a knocking at their door, and muffled voices calling. Immediately they rise, go to the shore, and there see empty boats, not their own but strange ones, they go on board and seize the oars. When the boat is under way, they perceive that she is laden choke-full, with her gunwales hardly a finger's breadth above water. Yet they see no one, and in an hour's time they touch land, which one of their own craft would take a day and a night to do. Arrived at Brittia, the boat speedily unloads, and becomes so light that she only dips her keel in the wave. Neither on the voyage nor at landing do they see any one, but they hear a voice loudly asking each one his name and country. Women that have crossed give their husbands' names.

"A garbled account", observed Loyn "possibly an echo of a report by a Frankish ambassador or an Angle in the ambassador's entourage".

Pursuing geographical accuracy beyond the capacity of Procopius himself, there have been suggestions as to at which point exactly these boats left the Gallic coast, Villemarqué placing it near Raz, Armorica, where there is a toponym  "bay of souls".

Jacob Grimm reports that on the river Tréguier in Brittany, in the commune Plouguel, it is "said to be the custom to this day, to convey the dead to the churchyard in a boat, over a small arm of the sea called passage de l'enfer, instead of taking the shorter way by land".

Procopius's account is repeated by John Tzetzes in the 12th century; but long before that, Claudian at the beginning of the 5th had heard of those Gallic shores as a trysting place of flitting ghosts.

and not far from that region are Britain, the land of the Senones, and the Rhine. Grimm compares this account to the airy wagon of the Bretons, and to bardic traditions which make out that souls, to reach the underworld, must sail over the pool of dread and of dead bones, across the vale of death, into the sea on whose shore stands open the mouth of hell's abyss.

The name may arise from the Breton name of Brittany, Breizh.

See also

 Breton mythology
 Britain (placename)
 Doggerland
 Fortunate Isles
 Fositesland
 Frankish mythology
 Folklore of the Low Countries
 Tol Eressëa

Notes

References
 Procopius, De Bellis tomus 4, ed. Migne, Patrologia Graeca.

Germanic mythology
Celtic mythology
Mythological islands
British Isles
Death customs
Breton mythology and folklore
Afterlife places

Brittia


The Turkish new lira () is the currency of Turkey and the unrecognised Turkish Northern Republic of Cyprus. The new lira is subdivided into 100 new kurush (yeni kuruş), the equivalent of American Cents or British Pennies. The symbol for the currency is YTL.

In the last few years the Turkish lira stabilised and even rose against the U.S. Dollars and the Euro.

In late December 2003, the Grand National Assembly of Turkey passed a law that allowed for the removal of six zeroes from the currency, and the creation of the new lira. It was introduced on 1 January 2005, replacing the previous lira (which remained valid in circulation until the end of 2005) at a rate of 1 new lira = 1,000,000 old lira.

The official name of the currency is "New Turkish Lira". According to the Central Bank, the word "new" (yeni) is only a "temporary" measure. The "new" was be removed on January 1, 2009. The banknotes have "different shapes and sizes to prevent forgery".

References

Currencies of Turkey

Turkish new lira


Le Lioran is a small mountain resort in the heart of continental France. It consists of the original settlement of Le Lioran in the valley bottom as well as the settlements of Prairie de Sagnes, Font d'Alagon, Font de Cère, and Prat du Bouc, all of which are geared towards the mountain tourism market. The largest of these is the Prairie de Sagnes, now known as Super-Lioran; most facilities and accommodation are concentrated there.  One of the few remaining resorts in central France, it has grown to become one of the biggest and most advanced resorts in the Massif Central. There is a wide range of sporting and leisure activities on offer in addition to the more traditional winter sports and the wealth of lodging and other services available. There is a heavy emphasis on the all year round nature of the resort, although, inevitably, the resort is busiest in the winter season.

Geography
Within France it is administratively located in the commune of Laveissière, the canton of Murat, the arrondissement of Saint-Flour, the département of Cantal, and the région of Auvergne. However, the village of Prat du Bouc is located in the commune of Albepierre-Bredons, but shares the same upwards administrative chain as the other settlements.

History
The resort is among the newest within the Massif Central, with skiing appearing in the area around the beginning of the 20th century, although the area became forgotten during World War II. Afterwards interest in the sport in the area resurfaced, possibly owing to the influence of the British. The first lift to be constructed at the resort was the Téléski Débrayable de Massebœuf, a single place detachable button lift built by one of the residents in 1947. This lift continued to operate until 1984 when it was replaced by a three place fixed chair lift. The next lift to be built was the Téléski Débrayable de la Gare, built in 1965, to provide a link between the railway station in the valley bottom and Prairie de Sagnes further up the mountain, it is still running today.

As the end of the 1950s approached, Hector Peschaud, the sénateur and président of the conseil général at the time proposed the idea of constructing a resort on the site of Prairie de Sagnes. The département of Cantal put out a tender for architects and mountain developers to build a resort on the site. This prompted a major contributor to the development of the resort with the construction of the Téléphérique du Plomb du Cantal, an eighty place cable car, completed in 1967 with the aid of, and inaugurated by, locally born Georges Pompidou who would shortly succeed Charles de Gaulle as President of France. From then on, development at the resort snowballed.

References
http://www.lelioran.com/
http://www.ign.fr/

External links

Resort website

Sports venues in Cantal
Ski stations in France
Skiing in the Massif Central

Le Lioran


Oskar Nedbal (26 March 1874 – 24 December 1930) was a Czech violist, composer, and conductor of classical music.

Early life
Nedbal was born in Tábor, in southern Bohemia. He studied the violin at the Prague Conservatory under Antonín Bennewitz.

Career
He was principal conductor with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra from 1896 to 1906 and was a founder member of the Bohemian String Quartet, as violist.

A great admirer of his teacher Antonín Dvořák, Nedbal also paid homage to other composers. For example, in his 1910 composition, Romantic Piece, Op. 18 for cello and piano, Nedbal cleverly inserts a theme usually associated with Mozart, Ah, vous dirai-je, Maman.

His works include one (unsuccessful) opera, Jakob the Peasant (1919–1920), and the operettas Chaste Barbara (1910), Polish Blood (1913), The Vineyard Bride (1916), and Beautiful Saskia (1917).

in 1926 he conducted the premiere of Jan Levoslav Bella's opera, Wieland der Schmied in Bratislava.

Death and legacy
Because of mounting personal debts, Nedbal committed suicide by jumping out of a window of the Zagreb Opera House on 24 December 1930.

In recent years, Nedbal's haunting Valse Triste featured in his ballet Der Faule Hans (The Tale of Simple Johnny) has been a favorite stand-alone encore piece of the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra. The waltz is also played on the piano at a key moment by one of the characters in Heimito von Doderer's novel of the inter-war years in Vienna, The Demons (Die Dämonen) (1956).

Selected works
Opera
 Sedlák Jakub (Jakub the Peasant; Le paysan Jakob) (1919–1920, revised 1928); libretto by L. Novák after Lope de Vega; premiere performance 13 October 1922 in Brno

Operettas
 Cudná Barbora (Chaste Barbara; Barbara the Chaste; Die keusche Barbara), Operetta in 3 acts (1910); libretto by Rudolf Bernauer,  and V. Stech; premiere performance 14 September 1910, Vinohrady Theatre, Prague
 Polská krev (Polish Blood; Polenblut), Operetta in 3 acts (1913); libretto by Leo Stein; premiere performance 25 October 1913, Carltheater, Vienna
 Vinobraní (The Vineyard Bride; Die Winzerbraut), Operetta in 3 acts (1916); libretto by Leo Stein and ; premiere performance 11 February 1916, Theater an der Wien, Vienna
 Krásná Saskia (Beautiful Saskia; Die schöne Saskia), Operetta in 3 acts (1917); libretto by A. M. Willner and ; premiere performance 16 November 1917, Carltheater, Vienna
 Eriwan, Operetta in 3 acts (1918); libretto by ; premiere performance 29 November 1918, Komödienhaus (Colosseum), Vienna
 Mamselle Napoleon, Operetta in 1 act (1918, revised 1928); libretto by Emil Gölz and Arnold Gölz; premiere performance 21 January 1919, Die Hölle, Vienna
 Donna Gloria, Operetta in 3 acts (1925); libretto by Viktor Léon and Heinz Reichert; premiere performance 30 December 1925, Carltheater, Vienna
 Das Dorf ohne Männer, Operetta in 1 act (manuscript)
 Die Erntebraut; revision of Polská krev with a German libretto by Hermann Hermecke; premiere performance 1942, Admiralspalast, Berlin
 Podzimní píseň (Autumn Song; Le Chant d'automne); revision of Vinobraní with Czech libretto by Václav Špilar and Václav Mírovský; premiere performance 24 October 1930, Velká opereta, Prague

Ballets
 Pohádka o Honzovi (The Tale of Honza; Tale of Simple Johnny; Jean le paresseux; Der faule Hans), Ballet-Pantomime in 5 scenes (1901–1902); libretto by František Karel Hejda; premiere performance 24 January 1902, National Theatre, Prague
 Z pohádky do pohádky (From Fairy Tale to Fairy Tale; De conte en conte; Großmütterchens Märchenschätze) (1907); libretto by Ladislav Novák; premiere performance 25 January 1908, National Theatre, Prague
 Princezna Hyacinta (Princess Hyacinth) (1910); libretto by Ladislav Novák; premiere performance 1 September 1911, National Theatre, Prague
 Čertova babička (The Devil's Grandmother; Des Teufels Großmutter), Ballet-Pantomime in 3 scenes (1912); libretto by Karl van Zeska and Gertrude Stöhr; premiere performance 20 April 1912, Wiener Hofoper, Vienna
 Andersen, Fairy Tale Ballet in 7 scenes, a prologue and an epilogue (1912); libretto by Ladislav Novák and Jaroslav Kvapil; premiere performance 1 March 1914, Ronacher, Vienna
 Pevec lásky (Le Minnesänger) (1921); libretto by Ladislav Novák; premiere performance 9 April 1921 in Vienna (manuscript)
 Cikánské kouzlo (La magicien tzigane); libretto by V. Stech (manuscript, incomplete)
 Tajna; libretto by C. Sylva (manuscript, incomplete)

Incidental music
 Die Hermannsschlacht, Music for the play by Heinrich von Kleist (1914); premiere performance 10 December 1914, Burgtheater, Vienna

Orchestral
 Slavnostní pochod (Festival March; Festmarsch), Op. 3 (premiere 1894)
 Scherzo caprice (Scherzo capriccioso) in G major, Op. 5 (1892)
 Suite mignonne; orchestration (1920–1923) of the piano work Aus dem Kinderleben, Op. 15
 Unie (Union), Festival March (1928)
 Česká polka (Czech Polka) for string orchestra

Concertante
 Romance et sérénade for violin and piano (or orchestra), Op. 6 (1893)
 Romance for cello and orchestra

Chamber music
 Romance et sérénade for violin and piano (or orchestra), Op. 6 (1893)
 Sonata in B minor for violin and piano, Op. 9 (published 1896)
 Dvě skladby (2 Pieces) for cello and piano (or orchestra), Op. 12 (1899)
   Romance in F major
   Capriccio in F major
 Valse triste in G minor for string quartet (1907); from the ballet Pohádka o Honzovi
 Romantický kus (Pièce romantique) in D major for cello and piano, Op. 18 (1910)
 Sonata in D major for violin and piano (manuscript)
 Fugue in D major for string quartet
 Prosba for 3 violins
 Romance for clarinet (manuscript)

Piano
 Variace na thema Antonína Dvořáka (Variations of a Theme of Dvořák), Op. 1
 Lettres intimes, 3 Pieces, Op. 7 (1894)
 Čtyři kusy (4 Pièces), Op. 8 (1894)
   Barcarola
   Valse petite
   Impromptu
   Valse caprice
 Silhouette, Op. 10 (1895)
 Humoreska in G major (1896)
 Aus vergangenen Zeiten, Op. 13 (1897); An orchestral version also exists in manuscript form.
 Z dětského života (Aus dem Kinderleben), Suite, Op. 15; orchestrated as Suite mignonne (1920–1923)
 Pohádka o smuku a štěstí (Fairy Tale of Grief and Joy; In Leid und Lust), Op. 16 (1905)
 Valses silhouettes, Op. 17 (1907)
 Sonata in D major (manuscript)
 Humoreske en do majeur sur un thème de Dvořák (manuscript)
 Reisebildchen (manuscript)
 Weihnachtsstimmung (published 1908)
 Preludium

 Vocal
 4 písně (4 Songs) for voice and piano, Op. 2 (published 1896)
   Za svitu luny
   Anděl strážce
   Dívčí popěvek
   Píseň v národním tónu
 4 písně (4 Songs) for voice and piano, Op. 4 (1892)
 4 písně (4 Songs) for voice and piano, Op. 11 (1896); words by Josef Václav Sládek
   Sen
   Oči
   Dudák
   Co na nebi je hvězdiček
 Píseň pro nová srdce (Chant pour les nouveaux cœurs) (manuscript)
 Militär und Volkslieder; words by Karel Dostál-Lutinov and Hornoff (manuscript)

Film scores
 Svatý Václav (Saint Wenceslas) (1929); directed by Jan Stanislav Kolár

References
http://www.johann-strauss.org.uk/composers-n-z.php?id=184

External links

Photographs in Šechtl & Voseček archive
Scores by Oskar Nedbal in digital library Polona

1874 births
1930 suicides
Czech classical composers
Czech male classical composers
Czech opera composers
Male opera composers
Czech classical violists
Academic staff of the Prague Conservatory
19th-century classical composers
20th-century classical composers
Czech conductors (music)
Male conductors (music)
Suicides by jumping in Croatia
Suicides in Yugoslavia
20th-century conductors (music)
20th-century Czech male musicians
19th-century Czech male musicians
1930 deaths
20th-century violists
Czech violists
Musicians from Austria-Hungary
Prague Conservatory alumni

Oskar Nedbal


Walter Dobrogosz is a Professor Emeritus of North Carolina State University, best known for his discovery and further research on the probiotic bacterium Lactobacillus reuteri.

Professional life

Dobrogosz was born on September 3, 1933, in Albion, Pennsylvania. He grew up in Erie, Pennsylvania, and received his B.S., Masters, and Ph. D. degrees in bacteriology and biochemistry from Penn State University. In 1960-62, Dobrogosz held an NIH-supported postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and afterwards began teaching at N.C. State University. He became a full Professor of Microbiology at N. C. State in 1968 and remained there until his retirement in 2003. While at N. C. State, he taught the graduate courses 'Metabolic Regulatory Mechanisms,' 'Microbial Physiology and Bioenergetics,' and 'Metabolism, Growth, and Regulation,' and the undergraduate courses "General Microbiology,' 'Microbial Metabolism,' and 'Microbes and World Affairs.'

Early in his research career, Dobrogosz studied metabolic regulation in such species as Escherichia coli and Salmonella typhimurium. In particular, his research focused on the phenomenon of catabolite repression, a regulatory system involving interactions of cyclic AMP, the catabolite repressor protein (CRP) complex, and the lac operon and other inducible systems in bacteria.

The focus of Dobrogosz's research shifted in 1985, when he and student Lars Axelsson identified L. reuteri, a new lactic acid bacterium. Later that year, while on a Fulbright Fellowship to study in Sweden, Dobrogosz and colleague Sven Lindgren discovered that L. reuteri produces a potent anti-microbial substance, which they termed "reuterin." Based on this, they hypothesized that the human-specific strain of L. reuteri had the potential to be a protective probiotic. Dobrogosz and his fellows obtained patents on both the bacterium and reuterin, and later began to market L. reuteri for its benefits to human and animal health.

Dobrogosz founded Probiologics International (PBI) in 1987, a company devoted to the commercial prospects of L. reuteri. PBI began to carry out human clinical trials, and found that L. reuteri is effective in preventing diarheal diseases and other gut infections. L. reuteri is now known to maintain intestinal health, prevent fungal, bacterial, and protozoal infections, and mediate the body's immune response. PBI was purchased by public investors in 1990, and later its name was changed to BioGaia AB. It continues to market L. reuteri, often contained in yogurt or milk-based products, worldwide.

Dobrogosz has been involved with the American Society for Microbiology (ASM) throughout his career. He has served on the editorial board of the ASM journal, chaired the Genetics and Physiology section of the ASM, and presided for two terms over the ASM's North Carolina branch.

Since retirement, Dobrogosz has remained an active advocate of the "probiotic concept"; the importance of microbes in human health. He continues to publish review articles on L. reuteri, in addition to attending and lecturing at conferences on probiotic and microbiological research.

Personal life

Though born in the United States, Dobrogosz is of Eastern European ancestry. His father was born in Warsaw, Poland (then under Russian control), and his mother was Slovac.

Professor Dobrogosz married his wife Donna in 1953 and is the father of four children, including musician Steve Dobrogosz, and grandfather of nine. He now lives in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Dobrogosz has been an avid athlete since his youth. In high school, he lettered in basketball, American football, and track and field. At Penn State University, he competed on the varsity track and field team as a hurdler.  In his adulthood Dobrogosz discovered handball, at which he also became very competitive. One of the premier handball players in North Carolina during the 1970s, Dobrogosz won many tournaments, including the 1975 and 1977 North Carolina amateur men's singles championships, and the 1972, 1974, 1980, and 1981 Raleigh YMCA doubles titles.

Selected publications

Sources
 http://microbiology.ncsu.edu/WJD/WJD.html
 http://www.biogaia.se/

References

21st-century American biologists
American microbiologists
Eberly College of Science alumni
North Carolina State University people
1933 births
Living people

Walter Dobrogosz


The Triangulum galaxy  is a spiral galaxy approximately 3 million light years (ly) from Earth in the constellation Triangulum.
The Triangulum galaxy is the third-largest member of the Local Group of galaxies, which includes the Milky Way galaxy, the Andromeda galaxy and about 50 other smaller galaxies. It is one of the most distant permanent objects that can be viewed with the naked eye.

It is catalogued as Messier 33 or NGC 598, and is sometimes informally referred to as the Pinwheel galaxy, a nickname it shares with Messier 101.

Properties

Structure
In the French astronomer Gérard de Vaucouleurs' revised Hubble Sandage (VRHS) system of galaxy morphological classification, the Triangulum Galaxy is classified as type SA(s)cd. The S prefix says that it is a spiral galaxy. The A is assigned when the center of the galaxy lacks a bar-shaped structure, unlike SB class barred spiral galaxies. American astronomer Allan Sandage's "(s)" notation is used when the spiral arms emerge directly from the center, instead of an inner ring like an (r)-type galaxy. Finally, the cd suffix describes the openness of the arms. cd means loosely wound arms.

This galaxy has an inclination of 54° to the line of sight from the Earth, allowing the structure to be examined without significant obstruction by gas and dust. The disk of the Triangulum Galaxy appears warped out to a radius of about 8 kpc. There may be a halo surrounding the galaxy, but there is no bulge at the center. This is an isolated galaxy and there are no indications of recent interactions with other galaxies, and it lacks the small following galaxies or tidal tails associated with the Milky Way.

Triangulum is classified as unbarred, but another look at the galaxy shape shows a weak bar-like structure around the galactic nucleus. The center of this galaxy  is the most luminous source of X-rays in the Local Group of galaxies. However, the center does not appear to contain a supermassive black hole, as an upper limit of 3,000 solar masses is placed on the mass of a central black hole based upon the speed of stars in the core region.

The inner part of the galaxy has two spiral arms, along with multiple spurs that connect the inner to the outer spiral features. The main arms are called IN (north) and IS (south).

References

Spiral galaxies
Local galaxies

Triangulum galaxy


Monpazier is a city in France. It is in the Dordogne departement, in Aquitaine. In 1999, 516 people lived there. It has been named one of the most beautiful villages in France by the association Les Plus Beaux Villages de France. It was built as a bastide. For some time, Eleanor of Aquitaine and Richard III lived there.

The city was founded by Edward I of England in 1284. It is of rectangular design, built around a main square.

The city is about half-way between Bergerac and Sarlat-la-Canéda. Each city is about 45 km away. The River Dropt runs through the city.

Bastides
Communes in Dordogne

Monpazier


Atonement is an idea found in both Christianity and Judaism that describes how sin can be forgiven by God. In Judaism, this was done by rituals performed by the High Priest on the holiest day of the Jewish year: Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement). In Christian theology the atonement refers to the forgiving or pardoning of sins through the death of  Jesus Christ.

Christian theology
Judaism

Atonement


Events from the year 1812 in Canada.

Incumbents
Monarch: George III

Federal government
Parliament of Lower Canada: 7th
Parliament of Upper Canada: 5th (until March 6) then 6th (starting July 27)

Governors
Governor of the Canadas: Robert Milnes
Governor of New Brunswick: George Prévost
Governor of Nova Scotia: John Wentworth then John Coape Sherbrooke
Commodore-Governor of Newfoundland: Charles Morice Pole
Governor of Prince Edward Island: Joseph Frederick Wallet DesBarres

Events
 June 18 – The U.S. declares war on Britain, beginning the War of 1812. There were about 4,000 British troops in Canada. George Prevost is Governor. Four Canadian battalions are assembled, and the Citadel at Quebec is guarded by the inhabitants.
 July 11 – Americans under General William Hull invade Canada from Detroit.
 August 16 – Isaac Brock with a force of 1,350, nearly half Aboriginals, takes Detroit. He paroles many of Hull's 2,000.
 August 20 – Launch of John Molson's second steamboat, the Swiftsure, at Montreal.
 August to October – The Red River Colony is begun in Canada's northwest on lands granted to Thomas Douglas by the Hudson's Bay Company.
 October – Almost half of Vermont's Legislators regard war as needless and impolitic; but Vermont imposes a penalty of $1,000 for every unauthorized communication with Canadians.
 October 13 – Stephen Van Rensselaer IV's command is repulsed, on Queenston Heights by Gen. Sheaffe and Governor Brock, who is killed. Of the 10,000 under Van Rensselaer, many were unwilling to invade, though willing to defend the United States.
 Fighting on the same side as British militia and Mohawk Indians, a group of black soldiers helps force American invaders to retreat in the Battle of Queenston Heights.
 October 25 – Battle at St. Regis.
 November 20 – Henry Dearborn's command cross the Lacolle. Charles de Salaberry eludes them, and, in the haze, U.S. troops fire upon each other.
 David Thompson retires to Montreal.
 The Americans gain several victories, on the water, as Napoleon engages the British attention.
 The United States calls out 175,000 men, Canada 2,000.
 For all purposes Canada votes 87,000 pounds.

Births
 May 12 – John Simpson, merchant, miller, banker, and politician (d.1885)
 October 21 – David H. Armstrong, United States Senator from Missouri from 1877 till 1879. (d. 1893)
 November 2 – William James Anderson, physician, amateur geologist and historian (d.1873)
 November 6 – Louis-Victor Sicotte, lawyer, judge and politician (d.1889)
 December 12 – John Sandfield Macdonald, Premier of Ontario (d.1872)

Deaths
 January – Thomas Walker, advocate and politician  (b. c. 1759)
 January 12 – James Henry Craig, officer, colonial administrator (b.1748)
 March 11 – John Burbidge, soldier, land owner, judge and political figure in Nova Scotia. (b.1718)
 October 13 – Sir Isaac Brock, military commander, administrator of Upper Canada (b.1769)
 December 2- Pierre-Louis Panet, lawyer, notary, seigneur, office holder, politician, and judge (b.1761)

References

12
1812 in North America

1812 in Canada


The Reverend Frederick Thatcher (1814 – 19 October 1890) was an English and New Zealand architect and clergyman.

He was born at Hastings to a long-established Sussex family. He practised as an architect in London from 1835 and  was one of the earliest associates of the Institute of British Architects, being admitted in 1836. He designed the workhouse in Battle, East Sussex in 1840.

With his dead wife's brother Isaac Newton Watt, (1821–1886) he sailed from Plymouth on the barque Himalaya, and landed in New Plymouth, New Zealand, on 23 December 1843. Thatcher worked in New Plymouth then Auckland. He entered St John's College, Auckland to train for the ministry in 1848, and was ordained deacon the same year and priest in 1853. He designed the college's chapel, consecrated in 1847.

He was the first incumbent of St Matthew's, Auckland, and at the same time was Chaplain to the Forces. In December 1856 he was obliged to leave on account of ill health. The next four years he spent in England, and from December 1859 he was curate at Winwick, Northamptonshire. He returned to New Zealand in July 1861 and was appointed to St Paul's parish, Wellington, where he remained until 1864, when he had to resign again for health reasons. He designed St Paul's Church (1866), now Old St Paul's, Wellington and Kinder House on Ayr Street, Parnell.

He returned to England in 1868, and settled in Lichfield where he became secretary first to Bishop George Augustus Selwyn and then to Bishop William Maclagan. He retired in 1882 and in the following year was made a prebendary canon. He was associated with Bishop Selwyn and the founding of Selwyn College, Cambridge. He died at Bakewell, Derbyshire, where his son Ernest Grey Thatcher was curate, in 1890.

He designed many New Zealand churches, which were constructed of wood in the Gothic Revival style, as well as hospitals and schools. He was associated with the first Anglican Bishop of New Zealand, George Augustus Selwyn in planning several "Selwyn" churches in New Zealand, among them  St Stephen's Chapel in Parnell and All Saints Church, Howick.

He married, first, in 1840, Elizabeth Watt (died 1842), and second, in 1849, Caroline Wright of New Plymouth. One son, Ernest, was born of the second marriage.

References

 Biography in the 1966 Encyclopaedia of New Zealand
 An Excellent Recruit: Frederick Thatcher, architect, priest and private secretary in early New Zealand by Margaret Alington (2007, Polygraphia, Auckland)

1814 births
1890 deaths
New Zealand architects
Gothic Revival architects
19th-century New Zealand Anglican priests

English ecclesiastical architects
New Zealand ecclesiastical architects
19th-century English architects
English emigrants to New Zealand
Architects from Sussex

Frederick Thatcher


Raw materials are materials that have not been processed. They are in the form in which they are found in nature without any thing done to them.  Raw materials are made into other things.

Raw materials usually come from:

 A plant or tree
 An animal
 A mine

Examples of raw materials:

 Grains such as wheat and rice
 Vegetables such as carrots and onions
 Meat such as beef and chicken
 Wood from a tree
 Honey from a bee's nest
 Minerals or metal from a mine
 Crude oil
 Raw hair, a type of hair extensions that has not been processed

Things that are not raw materials because they have been processed

 Bread and pasta
 Toothpaste and soap
 Sausages
 Furniture such as chairs and tables
 Machines such as cars
 Jewelry
 Clothing and shoes
 Gasoline
 Oil that goes in cars
+ coal
Materials
Minerals

Raw material


Summer Knight is a 2002 New York Times Bestselling contemporary fantasy novel by author Jim Butcher. It is the fourth novel in The Dresden Files, which follows the character of Harry Dresden, present-day Chicago's only professional wizard.

Plot summary
Mab, the Winter Queen of the Sidhe, has purchased Dresden's debt from his fairy godmother, Leanansidhe. She tells Dresden he can pay off his debt by doing three favors. The first favor is for him to find the murderer of the Summer Knight Ronald Reuel and recover his stolen mantle. Dresden refuses her request, but is forced by the White Council to accept the role of her Emissary as his Trial, else be stripped of his title of wizard and handed over to the Red Court vampires as a peace offering.

Dresden is visited by Elaine, his former lover, now the Emissary of the Summer Court, indebted to Aurora, the Summer Lady. Dresden goes to Reuel's funeral, looking for a group of teenage half-human/half-Fae changelings who were Reuel's friends, but they flee and attack, believing him to be in service to Winter. An interview with the sadistic Winter Lady, Maeve, convinces him that she did not kill the Summer Knight.

The changelings ask Dresden to find their friend Lily, and he agrees. He discovers a gravely wounded Elaine and takes her to the Summer Lady. Aurora heals Elaine, but is not forthcoming with any details on Reuel's murder or Lily's disappearance. She explains that the death of the Summer Knight and the theft of his mantle of power shifted the power balance in favor of Winter, driving the Summer Court to attack Winter at Midsummer before their power fades.

Dresden summons Leanansidhe, who transports him to an ethereal Chicago-over-Chicago, where a great Stone Table, the sacrificial stone that maintains the balance between the Winter and Summer Sidhe, now rests. The power of blood spilled upon that table will change the balance of power between the Courts. Dresden persuades Elaine to help him reach the Mothers, the elder Queens of Summer and Winter. They goad him into answering his own questions, realizing that Aurora killed the Summer Knight and transferred his mantle to Lily, who she then turned to stone. They give him a Cloth of Unraveling to release Lily.

Aurora ambushes Dresden and takes him prisoner, aided by Elaine and by the Winter Knight, who she has suborned. Aurora intends to ritually sacrifice Lily on the Stone Table, transferring the power of the mantle to the Winter Sidhe and breaking the unending cycle of struggle between the Faerie Courts. Elaine covertly betrays Aurora, leaving Dresden an escape route from Aurora's sorcerous deathtrap. During the battle between the Courts, Dresden confronts Aurora, who dies at the hands of pixies armed by him with cold steel.

Mab offers Dresden the mantle of the Winter Knight, which he declines. Queen Mab grants safe passage to the White Council of the wizards, enabling Dresden to pass his Trial. Lily becomes the new Summer Lady and her changeling friend Fix her new Summer Knight.

Introduced characters

 Queen Mab: the Queen of Air and Darkness; the monarch of the Court of the Winter Sidhe, the Unseelie Faeries.
 Queen Titania: the monarch of the Court of the Summer Sidhe, the Seelie Faeries.
 Maeve: the Winter Lady of the Sidhe.
 Aurora: the Summer Lady of the Sidhe.
 Mothers Summer and Winter: two former queens of the Summer and Winter Sidhe, respectively.
 Lloyd Slate: the Winter Knight.
 The Merlin: the head of the White Council and the Senior Council.
 Ebenezar McCoy: Dresden's mentor and a member of the White Council's Senior Council.
 Rashid, the Gatekeeper: a member of the White Council's Senior Council and Mab's "old desert fox".
 Listens-to-Wind: a member of the White Council's Senior Council.
 Ancient Mai: a member of the White Council's Senior Council.
 Elaine Mallory: Dresden's childhood girlfriend and the emissary of the Summer Sidhe.
 Lily: a statuesque Changeling, who becomes the new Summer Lady.
 Fix: a mechanic and a Changeling, who becomes the new Summer Knight.

Reception
Critical reception has been positive. The SF Site and Tor.com both reviewed Summer Knight, with Victoria Strauss commenting via the SF Site that it was "another superior entry in this excellent series".

References

External links

 The first three chapters of the book are found on the author's official website.

2002 American novels
American fantasy novels
The Dresden Files
Low fantasy novels
Urban fantasy novels
Novels by Jim Butcher
Novels about fairies and sprites

Summer Knight


Henri Pirenne (December 23, 1862 in Verviers – October 25, 1935 in Uccle) was a Belgian historian and academic. Pirenne is considered as one of the most important historians of Belgium.

Biography
He studied at the University of Liège and was a professor at the University of Ghent. His focus was on Medieval history, the history of Belgium and economic history.

He developed the so-called Pirenne thesis (nowadays out of date) in his book Mohammed and Charlemagne (published after his death in 1937). According to this opinion Mediterranean economics were disturbed by the early Islamic conquests and not by the barbarian invasions some centuries before.

Pirenne resisted the Dutchification of the University of Ghent. When this university had completely become Dutch-language spoken in 1930, he moved to the Brussels region where died in 1935, aged 72.

Works
 Histoire de Belgique (7 volumes) (1899-1932)
 The Formation and Constitution of the Burgundian State (Fifteenth and Sixteenth Centuries), The American Historical Review (1909)
 Belgian Democracy, Its Early History (1910, 1915)
 The Stages in the Social History of Capitalism, The American Historical Review (1914)
 Medieval Cities: Their Origins and the Revival of Trade (1927)
 A History of Europe (1936)
 Economic and Social History of Medieval Europe (1936)
 Mohammed and Charlemagne (1937)

1862 births
1935 births
Belgian academics
Belgian historians
People from Verviers

Henri Pirenne