AS Val

The AS Val (; code name "Shaft" (), GRAU designation 6P30) is a Soviet-designed assault rifle featuring an integrated suppressor. The Val was developed alongside the VSS Vintorez to replace modified general-purpose firearms, such as the AKS-74UB, BS-1, APB, and PB, for clandestine operations. Development of the Val began in 1985 following the VSS Vintorez in 1983 by TsNIITochMash based on the prototype RG-036 completed in 1981. Manufacturing began at the Tula Arms Plant after its adoption by the Soviet Army and KGB in 1987.
Design.
The Val is integrally suppressed and chambered in 9×39mm, a subsonic cartridge, in order to reduce its report and was designed alongside the VSS Vintorez, a similar rifle designed for precision shooting. Four rows of nine holes are drilled in the barrel near which follow the rifling and allow gas to escape the barrel behind the projectile into the suppressor. The suppressor effectively hides muzzle flash and reduces the muzzle report of the firearm to 130 dB. There are no design features which reduce the noise of the action.
Manipulation of the Val is similar to many other AK-type rifles: charging handle on the right side, tangent rear sight, magazine release button behind the magazine well, and safety lever above the trigger guard. The fire selector is, however, located behind the trigger within the trigger guard. The rifle also has an "AK-type" Warsaw Pact rail for various optical sights, namely the PSO-1-1, PSO-1M2-1, and 1-PN-51 calibrated for use with the 9×39mm cartridge. The standard open sights are graduated from 100 to 400 m in 25 m increments.
The action is also similar to that of AK-type rifles with a similar long-stroke gas system with the piston located above the barrel. The Val design characteristically uses a rotating bolt with six locking lugs and a milled steel receiver. It accepts the same standard 10 or 20-round double-stack detachable box magazines as the Vintorez, as well as the 30-round magazine of the SR-3M. Many of its components are shared with the Vintorez with the main discrepancy being the tubular metal buttstock which folds to the left. The firearm is functional with the stock folded, although the mounting of an optic will not allow the buttstock to close completely. The handguard, pistol grip, and magazines are made of a synthetic polymer.
For transportation, the Val can be quickly disassembled to fit into a special case, much like the Vintorez.
Variants and derivatives.
ASM Val: A modernisation of the Val (GRAU designation 6P30M). It features a 30-round magazine and a picatinny rail on the dust cover and forward of the handguard. Deliveries began in 2018.
VSS Vintorez: Fitted with a fixed wooden stock and pistol grip to improve marksmanship.
SR-3 Vikhr: Developed in 1996 for greater concealability by replacing the stock and omitting the integral suppressor and charging handle.
SR-3M: A modernisation of the SR-3 that replaces the original SR-3 stock with that of the AS Val and with a 30-round backwards compatible magazine. It allows for the attachment of a suppressor, similar in appearance to that of the AS Val and VSS Vintorez. The handguard was also redesigned to include the rear sight and a folding foregrip.
SR-3MP: A further modernisation of the SR-3M which allows for the folding stock to be mounted at the base of the pistol grip for users wearing helmets with face shields or head-mounted night vision devices. The handguard was also redesigned to include two picatinny rails on the sides.
9A-91: A redesign of the AS-Val concept produced in the 1990s with the accompanying VSK-94 outfitted for a marksman role.


Beocenter 9500

The BeoCenter 9500 is an integrated home music system by Bang & Olufsen. It consists of an AM/FM receiver, CD player and cassette recorder. Its features a mirrored exterior of polished aluminium and smoked glass. The BeoCenter 9500 has no buttons: it is controlled by touching the glass with a fingertip.
History.
The BeoCenter 9500 was introduced in 1989 as the successor to the BeoCenter 9000 and sold until 1994 when it was replaced by its successor the BeoCenter 9300.
Controls.
The BeoCenter 9500 featured B&O's unique sensi-touch control which works through a condenser effect. A graphite area is printed on the underside of the glass panel, and charged with a high frequency current. The proximity of a finger will invoke the control. The controls are illuminated by LEDs. Only the controls which have a function to the current activity are lit up.
The CD and cassette are hidden behind polished aluminium lids. A light touch on the display panel makes the lids glide to the side giving immediate access to disc or cassette.
Award.
Its designer David Lewis was awarded the iF product design award in 1990 for the BeoCenter 9500
 although the original design (the BeoCenter 9000) was by his predecessor Jacob Jensen.


Electric transient

Electric transient may refer to:
Physical phenomena:
Software:


TOZ-28

The TOZ-28 ("ТОЗ-28") is a Soviet hunting combination gun.
History.
The gun was designed by G. P. Chetverikova ("Г. П. Четверикова") in early 1960s.
Since 1963 began the production of this shotgun by Tula Arms Plant. In 1964 it was shown at VDNKh exhibition in Moscow.
On December 13, 1996, president of the Russian Federation B. N. Yeltsin signed the federal law № 150, which entered into force on July 1, 1997. In accordance with this law, possession of civilian firearms chambered for handgun ammunition was prohibited. As a result, since July 1, 1997, all TOZ-28 guns were banned on the territory of the Russian Federation and they had to be handed over to governmental law enforcement agencies for destruction.
Design.
TOZ-28 is a combination gun, with one rifled barrel under two other.
It is equipped with extractor.
All guns have a birch shoulder stock (with or without cheekpiece) and fore-end.


SkyView de Pier

SkyView de Pier is a 45-meter tall Ferris wheel in Scheveningen, The Hague. It was the first Ferris wheel constructed over sea in Europe, as it is on the Scheveningen Pier eight meters above the North Sea. It opened to the public on August 19, 2016.
Design.
The Netherlands-based Dutch Wheels designed and constructed the wheel. It is a model R50SP-36. It has 36 climate controlled gondolas that can accommodate 6 people each. A dining car can be reserved for dinner or high tea. A VIP gondola features a glass floor.


VelociCoaster

VelociCoaster (marketed as Jurassic World Velocicoaster) is an upcoming launched roller coaster at Universal's Islands of Adventure in Orlando, Florida. Manufactured by Intamin, the coaster will be themed to the "Jurassic World" film franchise and is scheduled to open on June 10, 2021. It is also Universal's third collaboration with Intamin, following the installations of Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts (2014) and Hagrid's Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure (2019).
VelociCoaster will be located in the Islands of Adventure's Jurassic Park area, occupying the site of the former "Triceratops Encounter" attraction. It will feature two high-speed launches powered by linear synchronous motors, a signature top hat, several inversions, and a maximum speed of .
History.
Construction.
Around the same time that Hagrid's Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure was under construction in 2018, early reports indicated that the Universal Orlando Resort had filed permits earlier in the year (under the name "Project 791") calling for the demolition and site clearing of the area that formerly housed the "Triceratops Encounter" attraction. The attraction had been closed and abandoned for nearly a decade, signaling that a new attraction was being planned as a replacement. Construction walls were erected in January 2019, and project documents were leaked online shortly after showing an overhead layout of a proposed roller coaster project.
Construction continued in full swing throughout 2019, with crews completely clearing out the former "Triceratops Encounter" attraction in addition to unused land in and around the park's existing "Discovery Centre" building. A bridge connecting the "Jurassic Park" area to "The Lost Continent" was also razed. In June 2019, the first pieces of track for the unannounced coaster were delivered and stored offsite. In July 2019, Universal Parks & Resorts filed a trademark with the United States Patent and Trademark Office for the name "Velocicoaster", which fans quickly deduced to be the name of the new unannounced coaster.
In early 2020, after months of concrete groundwork and further preparation, the project went vertical, as pieces of the now-massive stash of coaster track and supports were delivered to the construction site and installed. During the initial COVID-19 lockdown, construction would temporarily pause and then later resume at a rapid pace when cleared to do so. Much of the coaster had been constructed by the time that the Universal Orlando Resort was cleared to reopen to guests in June 2020, attracting the unreserved attention of park guests and local media alike. The tallest point of the ride, the tall top hat, was topped off and the element completed in early July.
Announcement and further preparation.
Amid high degrees of media attention and coverage of the project, Universal themselves had not once acknowledged the increasingly evident construction project and coaster, instead silently maintaining that such a project did not exist while making no attempts to cover it up or reduce its visibility. Following a website leak on September 25, the Universal Orlando Resort formally announced the Jurassic World VelociCoaster on September 28, 2020, billing it as a "new species of roller coaster" and as the tallest and fastest launch coaster in Florida. The ride was confirmed to feature 12 airtime moments, a long zero-g stall, and a barrel roll over the lagoon.
Since then, Universal has continued to release all of the new information on VelociCoaster as well as make progress towards the slated Summer 2021 opening. On December 4, 2020, new official closeups of the ride's sleek set of trains were revealed, and it would begin making consistent tests in front of the public eye. On January 25, 2021, reports indicated that the ride had begun testing with riders after nearly two months of running with test dummies. Two days later, the park released further details of the new coaster. VelociCoaster will have a drop at an 80-degree angle. The trains would have a lap bar instead of an over-the-shoulder restraint. The first launch would accelerate guests from 0 to in 3 seconds and the second one would be to in 2.4 seconds. Construction walls were taken down around the ride area in late February 2021, enabling park visitors to further views of the attraction. On April 6, 2021, the official opening date for VelociCoaster was announced for June 10, 2021.
Ride experience.
Queue.
The Queue begins just outside the bottom floor of the Discovery Center. Guest enter the paddock where neon lights glow and the coaster races outside the building. As the guest moves through the queue, they can see a statue of the four velociraptors, (Blue, Echo, Delta, Charlie) near the end, as a TV monitor above the guest heads plays a video where Mr. DNA briefly talks about Velociraptors. As guest past some more television screens providing info on the ride, they come across two of the raptors contained in their chambers. They occasionally shake, blink, and move but are very restricted in their movements. Next guest move into a dark room where 4 windows allow the guest to see the second launch in the ride. As a coaster races past, the raptors can be seen chasing after the coaster. Guest then enter the lockers area. This area is unique as the lockers are two way lockers. Guests put their belongings in one side, and as guests exit they remove their items from the other side. As guest go through a metal detector, they are ushered up a set of stairs, to a preshow room where Claire Dearing talking about the experience from a business standpoint. Raptor trainer Owen Grady is called, who rebuffs the idea of taking a ride in the raptor enclosure and tries to discourage the riders from going on. Riders reach the boarding area and are assigned two people to a row.


Pro Display XDR

The Pro Display XDR is a 32-inch flat panel computer monitor created by Apple, based on an LG supplied display, and released on December 10, 2019. It was announced at the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference on June 3, 2019 along with the third-generation Mac Pro. It is the first Apple-branded display since the Apple Thunderbolt Display was discontinued in 2016.
Overview.
The Pro Display XDR contains a 6016 × 3384 6K color-calibrated panel, and its rear cover contains a similar lattice pattern to the third-generation Mac Pro. To improve its contrast ratio and HDR capabilities, it uses blue-colored LEDs for its backlight instead of white, at a higher refresh rate than the display itself, and contains a system of "custom lenses and reflectors". The aforementioned lattice serves as a heatsink: Apple stated that this design gave the display sufficient thermal management to operate "indefinitely" at 1000 nits of brightness across the entire screen, and up to 1600 nits in an environment cooler than . The display is available with an optional laser-etched "nano-texture" glass finish to reduce glare. The nano-texture version requires a custom "dry polishing cloth" included with the display and sold by Apple to clean it.
Stands are optionally purchasable separately as an accessory, either the "VESA Mount Adapter" or "Pro Stand". Both use a proprietary magnet system to attach the display. The Pro Stand allows for height adjustment and rotation, and includes a lock switch that releases rotation when the display has enough clearance to rotate 90 degrees. Sensors in the display automatically rotate the user interface to portrait mode. Apple partnered with Logitech to create a 4K webcam that attaches to the top of the display magnetically.
Compatibility.
The Pro Display XDR runs at full resolution in high dynamic range with the following Macs running macOS Catalina 10.15.2 or later:
Macs and iPad Pros with DisplayPort will output to it, including Thunderbolt 2-equipped Macs using an adapter, but are limited to lower resolutions and standard dynamic range. The 5th generation iPad Pro can run the display at full resolution and high dynamic range. Windows and Linux-based systems supporting DisplayPort will output to it but cannot configure it.
It provides up to 96 W of host charging for MacBooks. The rear USB-C ports require a Mac with a GPU supporting Display Stream Compression (2019 16-inch MacBook Pro, 2019 Mac Pro with W5700X, 2020 27-inch iMac) to run at 3.0 speed, otherwise they will run at 2.0 speed.
Reception.
Shortly after the announcement, the stand came under criticism for being sold as a separate product, and at what was perceived to be an excessive cost for its function—retailing at $999. "Gizmodo" noted, "the price for Apple’s Pro Stand is so high, the crowd at WWDC 2019 let out an audible gasp when its pricing was announced, and that was in a room filled with reporters, Apple employees, Apple developers, and other assorted Apple followers who really ought to be immune to Apple sticker shock by now.""The Verge" jokingly dubbed the Pro Stand "the most expensive dongle ever".


Zapdos


Axial flow valve

The Thayer Axial-Flow Valve is a replacement for the traditional rotary valve found on trombones with F attachments. Invented by Orla Ed Thayer (with assistance from Zig Kanstul) in 1976, it was the biggest advance in the design of the trombone since the rotary valve was added (creating the F attachment) in the mid-19th century.
Problem.
When engaged, a rotary valve deflects the air flow through the instrument at least four times, and at least twice at rather sharp angles, leading to a stuffy response and audible tone colour changes, compared to the "open" instrument.
These drawbacks are especially severe with the trombone, because the instrument's characteristic timbre is a direct result of its construction, which is mostly completely straight: Apart from any possible valve tubing, there are only two bends, and the bore is almost completely cylindrical.
In contrast, the softer sound of "horn-like" brass instruments, so readily distinguishable from that of the trombone, is at least partially a result of their more or less conical bore and their intricate construction with many bows and bends.
The change in timbre and response was made even more severe by the traditional wrap of the valve tubing in narrow curves between bell and gooseneck that was the norm until the 1980s.
Solution.
The Thayer Valve uses a conical plug, allowing a deflection of the airflow by only 25 degrees or less. This also lets a smoother wrap of the F attachment's tubing (open wrap) become far more efficient. As a result, the response and tone colour are nearly unchanged from those of the open instrument, even for twin-valve bass trombones using the in-line configuration. Some trombonists even describe instruments whose response they experienced to be "more free-blowing" with the valves engaged.
Criticism.
Some trombonists, as well as servicing craftspeople, claim the Thayer valve has higher cleaning and maintenance requirements, sometimes to the degree of impaired reliability. Others attribute these problems not to the valve's construction but to a lack of expertise on the part of the critics.
Some trombonists, especially bass players, claim that more resistance enhances the response of low notes on the valve side (below E♭). This group finds playing more modern designs to be more of a strain and also sometimes criticizes their tone, which they find "less warm".
Aftermath.
The Thayer Valve kicked off an "arms race" among trombone designers and manufacturers that continues today. Newer valves (Hagmann, Lätzsch-FullFlow, Greenhoe, Bosc, the Kanstul "Controlled Resistance" valve, Balanced Valve System, Millervalve, among others) have become the de facto standard, at least in the upper price range and among symphonic trombonists where consistent timbre is a highly prized attribute.


Adder Technology

Adder Technology is a manufacturer of information technology hardware based in Cambridge, England, UK. It is the largest producer of keyboard, video, mouse (KVM) controllers in Europe.
History.
The company began in 1984 as Adder Publishing and was rebranded as Adder Technology in 1986. It relocated to Bar Hill in 2012.
Overview.
Adder develop hardware-based, remote-management devices which are sold under the brand name 'Adder'. Products include KVM switches (analog and Cat5), KVM over IP, digital signage products, remote office/branch office solutions, and out-of-band management solutions.
Adder Technology has won Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu's "Fast 50" designation in the Deloitte Fast 500 awards for 8 consecutive years. The company has received a Queen's Award for Enterprise.
The company has offices in the US, UK, Germany, the Netherlands and Singapore, and a global distribution network. Some 60% of its production is exported to Europe and the United States. It was founded in 1984 by Adrian Dickens.


Operational Evaluation Unit

An Operational Evaluation Unit is a type of "reserve" squadron of the Royal Air Force. OEU squadrons are tasked with evaluating an aircraft's weapons, systems and performance. This is to either assist in bringing the aircraft to an operational capability, or to continually assess how to best utilize the aircraft's capability once its in service. An example of such a squadron is No. 17 Squadron of the RAF. The Squadron's role as the F-35B Operation Evaluation Unit is being tasked with introducing the JSF aircraft into service with the Royal Air Force. It is equipped with four F35Bs and currently operates from Edwards Air Force Base in the United States.


Main stage

Main stage or mainstage refers to the largest or most prestigious space of a theatre building and to the productions performed in that space. Mainstage theatre has been historically distinguished from smaller-scale studio theatre. It is usually performed in a proscenium theatre or on a thrust stage." Main stage" is also used to describe the performance space with the largest audience capacity at a performing arts festival or other venues.
Historical usage.
In the 19th and early 20th centuries almost all theatres were built on the proscenium model. With the growth of studio theatres from the 1920s and their increasing adoption by traditional theatres as an ancillary space for smaller productions, theatrical management began to differentiate between its "main theatre" and "studio theatre." The concept of the main theatre became unattractive to those members of the profession working on large-scale events and others who felt that it was a diminishing part of modern theatre. The phrase "main theatre" lacked significance for those institutions that had a single traditional stage only. By the end of the 20th century the term "main stage" was well established as a description of traditional western theatres and the productions performed in them.
Modern usage.
Music festivals.
A music festival is a festival oriented towards music that is sometimes presented with a theme such as musical genre, nationality or locality of musicians, or holiday. They are commonly held outdoors, and are often inclusive of other attractions such as food and merchandise vending machines, performance art, and social activities. Large music festivals such as Lollapalooza are constructed around well known main stage acts and lesser known musicians and bands on side stages. Many festivals are annual, or repeat at some other interval, and have modular staging of many types. Each year Lollapalooza often features multiple acts on its main and side stages.
Strip clubs.
In strip clubs, the main stage is where the currently featured performer will dance as part of a rotation. In most clubs the main stage is a dominant feature of the layout. During each set of one or more songs, the current performer will dance on stage in exchange for tips. Dancers collect tips from customers either while on stage or after the dancer has finished a stage show and is mingling with the audience. A customary tip (where customers can do so at the stage) is a dollar bill folded lengthwise and placed in the dancer's garter from the "tip rail". The area of the tip rail is equivalent to the apron in traditional theatre.
The most common type of strip club main stage is the thrust stage, but the other major forms are also used regularly. Theatre in the round is also a popular form of strip club staging for its main stage.


Compsaraia samueli

Compsaraia samueli is a species of apteronotid electric fish that exhibits pronounced sexual dimorphism in which mature males develop extremely elongated snouts and oral jaws. This phenotype is found in several other apteronotid species and is used in agonistic jaw-locking behaviors between males.
A study comparing skull shape and jaw-closing performance in males and females of "Compsaraia samueli" suggested that males with elongated faces for use in fights also had lower mechanical advantages, indicating a trade-off between sexual weaponry and jaw leverage.
Named in honor of the senior author’s father, Samuel Albert, who accompanied his son on an electric-fish collecting trip to Peru, and purchased type specimens from a fish market near Iquitos when he recognized that they differed from all the other electric fishes they had been collecting by the prominent elongate jaws of mature males.


Administration Complex station

Administration Complex station () is a station of the Incheon Airport Maglev in Unseo-dong, Jung District, Incheon, South Korea.


National Railroad Museum

The National Railroad Museum is a railroad museum located in Ashwaubenon, Wisconsin, in suburban Green Bay.
Founded in 1956 by community volunteers, the National Railroad Museum is one of the oldest and largest U.S. institutions dedicated to preserving and interpreting the nation's railroad history.
Its collection of locomotives and rolling stock spans more than a century of railroading. Notable items include an "Aerotrain;" Union Pacific Big Boy No. 4017, one of the world's largest steam locomotives; and British Railways Class A4 No. 60008 "Dwight D Eisenhower" (ex-London & North Eastern Railway No. 4496 "Golden Shuttle") and train used by the Supreme Allied Commander and his staff in the United Kingdom and continental Europe during World War II.
A museum building houses a wide variety of railroad artifacts, an archive, and photography gallery. A standard gauge track rings the grounds. An wooden observation tower has views of the Fox River and Green Bay.
The museum hosts an annual "Day Out with Thomas" event, where Thomas the Tank Engine pulls young friends past the exhibited rolling stock; and in October, "Terror on the Fox": Green Bay Preble Optimist Club's haunted attraction that includes "haunted" train rides after dark.
Other collections.
The Museum's archives holds corporate records and documents, annual reports, maps, mechanical and engineering drawings, oral histories, and ephemera. The holdings represent various railroad companies, labor unions, and fraternal organizations.
Its library holds works on the social, economic, political, and cultural aspects of U.S. railroading history.
The National Railroad Museum holds over 5,000 artifacts, including textiles, uniforms, tools and personal items.
Its photograph collection includes 15,000 photographic prints, slides, and film negatives of U.S. railroading since 1890.
Capital campaign.
As of 2019, the museum was working to raise money to build a roundhouse to surround its current buildings (except the train station) to shelter from the weather the locomotives and cars displayed in the open pavilion.


Serrurier truss

A Serrurier truss is used in telescope tube assembly construction. The design was created in 1935 by engineer Mark U. Serrurier when he was working on the Mount Palomar Hale telescope. The design solves the problem of truss flexing by supporting the primary objective mirror and the secondary mirror by two sets of opposing trusses before and after the declination pivot. The trusses are designed to have an equal amount of flexure, which allows the optics to stay on a common optical axis. When flexing, the "top" truss resists tension and the "bottom" truss resists compression. This has the effect of keeping the optical elements parallel to each other. The net result is all of the optical elements stay in collimation regardless of the orientation of the telescope.
Some Serrurier truss designs end the truss members with a short flexible rod creating a more ideal "parallel motion flexure" system, to allow maximum parallelism of optical elements under gravitational load. Since truss members work primarily in tension and compression, there is no appreciable loss of stiffness due to the bending of the end flexures.
Certain designs used by amateur telescope makers, specifically truss tube Dobsonians that use a single truss, are sometimes called "Serrurier truss" designs. These single truss designs are used for their rigidity and do perform the function of keeping the optical elements parallel, but since they lack the opposing truss that keeps optics on the same optical axis they are not technically "Serrurier trusses".
Other examples of Serrurier truss designs:


Tearing

Tearing is the act of breaking apart a material by force, without the aid of a cutting tool. A tear in a piece of paper, fabric, or some other similar object may be the result of the intentional effort with one's bare hands, or be accidental. Unlike a cut, which is generally on a straight or patterned line controlled by a tool such as scissors, a tear is generally uneven and, for the most part, unplanned. An exception is a tear along a perforated line, as found on a roll of toilet paper or paper towels, which has been previously partially cut, so the effort of tearing will probably produce a straight line.
Materials vary in their susceptibility to tearing. Some materials may be quite resistant to tearing when they are in their full form, but when a small cut or tear is made, the material becomes compromised, and the effort needed to continue tearing along that line becomes less.
Materials can be characterized by standard test methods to measure their Tear resistance. There are several applicable standards which vary around the world. The variables which affect the tear strength can be summarized neatly by the quote:
"The value of tear strength obtained depends on the shape of the test piece, speed of stretching and temperature of test."


Carillon

A carillon ( or ; ) is a pitched percussion idiophone that is played with a keyboard and consists of at least 23 cast bronze bells in fixed suspension and tuned in chromatic order so that they can be sounded harmoniously together. Usually housed in a bell tower and owned by churches, universities, or municipalities, the bells are struck with clappers, which are connected to a keyboard of wooden batons played with the hands and pedals played with the feet. Often, carillons include an automatic system through which the time is announced and simple tunes are played throughout the day.
Carillons come in a wide variety of appearances, weights, sizes, and sounds. One of the world's heaviest instruments, the heaviest carillon weighs over . Most carillons weigh between . To be considered a carillon, a minimum of 23 bells are needed, otherwise it is called a chime. Standard-sized instruments have about 50, and the world's largest has 77 bells. The appearance of a carillon is dependent on the number and weight of the bells and the tower in which it is housed. They may be found in towers which are free-standing or connected to a building. The bells of the carillon may be directly exposed to the elements or hidden away inside the structure of their tower.
The origins of the carillon can be traced back to the Low Countries—Belgium, the Netherlands, and the French Netherlands—in the 16th century. The modern carillon is considered to have been invented in 1644 when Jacob van Eyck and the Hemony brothers cast the first tuned carillon. The instrument experienced a peak in the mid-18th century and a revival following the destruction of many carillons during the First and Second World Wars.
There are two main types of carillons: traditional and non-traditional. Traditional carillons are those which are played manually with a baton keyboard and do not operate with electronic or computerized action. There are approximately 700 traditional carillons and almost 500 non-traditional carillons worldwide. The majority are concentrated around its place of origin, though nearly 200 have been constructed in North America. Almost all extant carillons were constructed in the last century. A few "traveling" or "mobile" carillons are fixed to a frame that enable them to be transported.
Etymology and terminology.
The word "carillon" is a loanword from the French language dating back to the late eighteenth century. It is derived from the Old French (an alteration of ), meaning "a set of four bells." The word originates from the Latin , meaning "set of four"; from ("four times"). In German, in addition to using the French term, a carillon is sometimes called a ( "bell play"), which should not be confused with the glockenspiel.
A musician who plays the carillon is commonly called a carillonneur, also loaned from French. It and "carillon" were adopted by English speakers after the introduction of the instrument to British troops following the War of Spanish Succession in the 18th century. Though the word "carillonneur" literally refers to carillon players that are men, the French to denote women is not used. Another common term is "carillonist", which some players of the carillon have wished to replace "carillonneur" due to the former's simple spelling and unambiguous pronunciation. In 2018, the World Carillon Federation adopted "carillonist" as the preferred term for its communications.
Characteristics.
Construction.
The carillon is a keyboard instrument. Though it shares similarities with other instruments in this category, such as the organ or pedal piano, its playing console is unique. Playing is done with the hands on a manual keyboard composed of rounded, wooden batons. Like a piano, the manual has short chromatic keys (i.e. "black keys") raised above the diatonic keys ("white keys") and arranged in the same manner; however, they are spaced far apart, and the chromatic keys are raised above the rest, about . To operate, the keys are depressed with a closed fist. The lowest 1.5 to 2.5 octaves of the manual are connected to a pedalboard, which is played with the feet. The connection is direct, meaning that when a pedal is pressed, its corresponding key on the manual is pulled down with it. Unlike the organ or pedal piano, the carillon's pedals are shorter and fatter and spaced far apart. Since the mid-20th century, there have been two competing keyboard design standards for a carillon's console: the Guild of Carillonneurs in North America standard, and the North European standard. They differ over several design elements, such as whether the outer pedals curve toward the center, or the specific distance a key is depressed. In 2006, the World Carillon Federation developed the WCF Keyboard 2006, which is a compromise between the two standards. The organization recommends that its keyboard standard be used as a guideline when constructing new carillons or making renovations to existing keyboards.
Each key is connected to a transmission system via a wire, usually made of stainless steel. When a particular key is depressed, it pulls on the wire which, after interacting with other wires and pulleys, causes a clapper to swing towards the inner wall of the key's corresponding bell. At rest, these clappers are about away from the bell wall. For larger bells, gravity is sufficient to pull the clapper back from the bell. Smaller bells are fitted with return springs to pull it back immediately after the stroke, so that the bell is not sounded more than once for each keystroke. Immediately above each key is a wire adjuster called a turnbuckle. These allow the performer to compensate for changes in wire length due to temperature changes.
The cast bronze, cup-shaped bells of a carillon are housed at the top of a tower in a structure typically made of steel or wooden beams. The arrangement of the bells is highly dependent on the available space, the height and construction of the tower, and the number and size of bells. When the heaviest bells are especially large, they are usually placed below the playing cabin in order to achieve a better tonal distribution. The bells themselves do not move during operation, only the clappers. However, with some instruments, the heaviest bells may be outfitted with a mechanism enabling them to swing.
Carillons may also feature an automatic mechanism by which simple tunes or the Westminster Quarters are played. The mechanism on European carillons is often a playing drum, which is a large metal cylinder connected to a clock mechanism. Metal pegs are screwed onto the outside of the drum. When the clock mechanism sets the drum in motion, the pegs catch onto levers, which are connected to hammers that rest just a short distance from the outside of the bell. The hammers are briefly raised, and then fall onto the bell as the peg continues to rotate away from the lever. The pegs are arranged such that simple tunes can be programmed to play at specific quarter hours. In North America, automatic playing drum systems are not common; instead, carillons may have pneumatic systems which ring the instrument.
Sound.
Carillon bells are made of bell bronze, a specialized copper-tin alloy used for its above-average rigidity and resonance. A bell's weight and profile, or shape, determine its note and the quality of its tone. It produces a sound with overtones or partial tones which are not necessarily harmonically related. To produce a pleasing, harmonically related series of tones, the bell's profile must be carefully adjusted. Bellfounders typically focus on five principal tones when tuning, most notably the minor third overtone called the tierce, which gives rise to the unique sound of carillons and has been the subject of additional research. Since the casting process does not reliably produce perfectly tuned bells, they are cast slightly thicker and metal is shaved off with a lathe. Once finished, a bell never loses its sound profile. Only fires and air pollution will destroy a bell after it is founded. On older European carillons, bells were tuned with each other by using the meantone temperament tuning system. Modern carillons, particularly those in North America, are tuned to equal temperament.
The carillon has dynamic range similar to that of a piano's, if not more versatile. Through variation of touch, performers are able to express a wide variety of volumes. Bigger bells have more dynamic range than small high bells. Higher-pitched bells, with less bell mass, can only reach a fraction of the volume of the bass bells.
Along with pipe organs, carillons are one of the world's heaviest musical instruments. Most carillons weigh (counting the weight of only the bells) between , with extremes ranging from very light instruments to the world's heaviest at over —the Laura Spelman Rockefeller Memorial Carillon of the Riverside Church in New York City. Its bourdon, or largest, bell is the largest tuned bell ever cast for a carillon, which sounds a full octave below most other bourdons. The entire ensemble of fixed and swinging bells, clappers, and steel framework weighs over .
Range.
The range of the carillon is directly proportional to the number of bells it has. The instrument's total number of bells usually depends on funds available for the creation of the instrument: more money allows more bells to be cast, especially the larger, more costly ones. It is generally accepted that a carillon must have at minimum 23 bells, or else it is called a chime. There is no standard pitch range for the carillon, and as a result, several subcategories are used to categorize them:
The title of world's largest carillon by number of bells is shared between two instruments: the carillon of the Kirk in the Hills Presbyterian Church in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan and the carillon at Daejeon Institute of Science and Technology in Daejeon, South Korea; both have 77 bells.
Since a carillon is seldom played with another instrument, its bourdon may be any pitch—whichever is advantageous for the location and funds available. It is common for the console to have a C-compass to simplify the writing and playing of music. As a result, many carillons are transposing instruments, especially those that are small or older. The transposition can be anywhere from down a perfect fourth to up an octave. In the United States, an increasing number of new carillons have been installed in concert pitch as a result of the desire to establish the carillon as a full-fledged concert instrument.
History.
Origins.
The carillon originated from a combination of traditions. In medieval times, swinging bells were first used as a way of notifying people of the time of day, imminent church services, and for other events such as fires, storms, and wars. In the 14th century, a weight-driven, revolving pegged drum was invented to be connected to clockworks; the pegs tripped wires which stuck a small set of bells with hammers. Clock chimes eventually began playing simple melodies (such as the Westminster Quarters) preceding the hour strike. Interest in the musical potential of bells was greatest in the Low Countries—present day Belgium, the Netherlands, and the French Netherlands. In this region, bellfounding had reached an advanced stage relative to other regions in Europe.
The earliest records of bells being played with some form of primitive keyboard date to the turn of the 16th century. On 30 December 1482, the city of Antwerp appointed a man named Eliseus to play a small set of bells in St. Michael's Abbey, which had been outfitted with a system of "ropes and sticks." In 1510, Jan Van Spiere, a prominent local clockmaker, installed "a keyboard in the tower to chime" the set of 9 bells in the Oudenaarde Town Hall.
Development.
The new instrument developed in the favorable conditions in the Low Countries during the 16th and 17th centuries. Through ports in Amsterdam and Antwerp, the region gained the financial means and the technological superiority to support bellfounders and their expanding endeavors. Moreover, the political situation under Margaret of Austria and Emperor Charles V brought relative wealth and power to cities. Carillons quickly became a fashionable symbols of civic pride. Cities and towns competed against one another to possess the most imposing instruments comprised of highest quality and largest bells. Often, cities were not satisfied unless they boasted several carillons, and even small villages found the resources to purchase one. The demand was met by a successful industry of bellfounding families, notably the Waghevens and . Together, they produced over 50 carillons during the 16th and early 17th centuries. By 1600, the primitive carillon had become an established feature of the region.
A critical development for the modern carillon occurred in the 17th century, which involved a partnership between Pieter and François Hemony and Jacob van Eyck. The Hemony brothers were prominent bellfounders known for their precise tuning technique. was a renowned blind carillonneur of Utrecht who was commissioned by several Dutch cities to maintain and make improvements to their clock chimes and carillons. He was particularly interested in the sounds of bells, and in 1633, he developed the ability to isolate and describe a bell's five main partial tones and discovered that a bell's partial tones can be tuned harmoniously with each other by adjusting the bell's thickness. The Hemony brothers were commissioned in 1644 to cast 19 bells for Zutphen's Wijnhuis tower with as their consultant. By tuning the bells with the advice from , they created the first carillon by the modern definition. The quality of the bells were so impressive that recommended casting a full two octaves, or 23 bells. This range has been considered the standard minimum range for carillons ever since. During the next 36 years, the Hemony brothers went on to produce 51 carillons. Carillon culture experienced a peak around this time and until the late-18th century.
Decline.
The French Revolution had far-reaching consequences on the Low Countries and the carillon. The Austrian Netherlands were conquered by the French and annexed in 1795; the United Provinces were annexed in 1810. In the second year of the French First Republic, the Committee for Public Safety published instructions for extracting the copper from bells. Carillon owners resisted by petitioning the new governments to declare their instruments as "culturally significant" or by disconnecting the bells and burying them in secret. During this period, there were as many as 110 carillons. About 50 of them were destroyed as a result of war, fire, and destruction. The majority were melted down to produce cannons for the French Revolutionary Wars.
Between 1750 and the end of the 19th century, interest in the carillon greatly declined. An increasing number of households had access to grandfather clocks and pocket watches, which eroded the carillon's monopoly on announcing the time. As a musical instrument, the carillon lagged behind during the wandering, story-like nature of Romantic music. Many carillons were tuned using meantone temperament, which meant they were not suited chromaticism of the newer musical styles. The production of new musical works for the instrument essentially came to a standstill. In fact, the standard of carillon performance had dropped so much that in 1895, the music publisher Schott frères issued Matthias Vanden Gheyn's 11 carillon preludes for piano with a foreword claiming that "no carillonneur of our time knows how to play them on the carillon." In addition, the tuning techniques developed by the Hemony brothers, but not 's underlying theory, were forgotten as orders for carillons dwindled. Subsequent carillons were generally inferior to earlier installations.
Revival.
In the early 1890s, an English change ringer and canon Arthur Simpson published a set of articles on bell tuning, where he argued that bell founders had been complacent with their poor tuning methods and proposed solutions to the existing problems. John William Taylor, who had been trying to replicate the tuning techniques of the Hemony brothers and the at his foundry, began working with Simpson. In 1904, they founded the first tuned bells in over a century. The reinvention initiated a revival of carillon building.
In Mechelen, Belgium, Jef Denyn was as a major figure in the revival of the carillon as a musical instrument. In 1887, after his father had become completely blind, Denyn took over as the city carillonneur, which was responsible for playing the carillon in the tower of St. Rumbold's Cathedral. From the beginning of his career, Denyn advocated for better playability of the instrument. He further developed the tumbler rack system of transmission cables that his father had begun installing on the cathedral carillon, which allowed the player to have better control over dynamic variations, fast musical passages and tremolos. Tremolos offered a solution to a Romantic-era limitation of the carillon: its inability to expressively reproduce sustained notes.
With his improving skills as a carillonneur and the upgraded cathedral carillon, Denyn's performances began attracting crowds of listeners. He established regular Monday night concerts at the suggestion of the city council. On August 1, 1892, Denyn hosted the first carillon concert in history. This step brought the carillon, from its role of providing background music to the public, to the foreground. From this point forward, the instrument garnered a reputation as a concert instrument.
International attention.
As a result of his concerts, Denyn made acquaintance with William Gorham Rice, an American state and federal government official from Albany, New York. Rice, having traveled to The Hague and been exposed to the carillon, was regularly touring the region to interview carillonneurs for his book. After Denyn's 18 August 1913 evening concert, he and Rice exchanged ideas about the societal power of the carillon and its educational value. Rice's book "Carillons of Belgium and Holland" was published in December 1914 and reprinted three times. The book painted an idealized picture that resonated with the American public, particularly in light of the rape of Belgium. Its success motivated Rice to publish two more in 1915 and 1925. Rice became an authority on carillons in the United States; in addition to his books, he gave 35 lectures in several cities, published articles in magazines, spoke on radio programs, and presented exhibition material on the subject between 1912 and 1922. In 1922, Rice garnered financial support from Herbert Hoover and John D. Rockefeller Jr. to help establish a carillon school in Mechelen with Denyn as its first director. It was later named the Royal Carillon School "Jef Denyn".
The destruction of carillons during World War I and World War II were seen as an annihilation of a unique democratic music instrument was highly publicized among the allies of Belgium and the Netherlands. In the second war, British investigators claimed that Nazi Germany seized two thirds of all bells in Belgium and every last bell in the Netherlands. Between 1938 and 1945, 175,000 bells were stolen and stored in "bell cemeteries" (). Some 150,000 were sent to foundries and melted down for their copper. Following the war, Percival Price, Canada's first Dominion Carillonneur and one of the first professional carillonneurs in North America, was dispatched to help investigate and repatriate as many surviving bells as possible. Price capitalized on the unique opportunity to publish a study on the ideal tonal qualities of Europe's bells.
In 1999, UNESCO designated 32 bell towers in Belgium as a World Heritage Site, in recognition of their architectural diversity and significance. The list was expanded in 2005 to include 23 located in France as well as the tower of Gembloux, Belgium. In 2014, UNESCO recognized the carillon cultures of the Netherlands and Belgium as intangible cultural heritages, stating, "UNESCO recognizes the creativity of carillonneurs and others who ensure that this cultural form remains relevant to today's local societies."
In 2008, the carillon was featured in the film "Welcome to the Sticks", which saw success in the box office as the highest grossing French film ever released in France
Usage and repertoire.
Music.
The carillon repertoire skews heavily toward newer works in stark contrast to that of its relative the organ's. Only about 15 collections of carillon music written before 1900 are known to still exist. As with the early history of the pipe organ, performers relied heavily on improvisations. Archival evidence shows that many early carillonneurs were required to instruct others, especially as they neared retirement. In the late Renaissance and early Baroque eras, keyboard music was not written for one instrument or another, but rather was written to be played on "any" keyboard instrument. For this reason, much of the carillon's repertoire in its early history was likely the same as that of the harpsichord, organ, and piano. One of the few surviving examples of evidence is the carillon book of Joannes de Gruytters, dated 1746. The music is clearly arranged for rather than composed for performance on the carillon and could easily be played on other keyboard instruments. Baroque keyboard music is well suited for carillon transcription, particularly the works of Vivaldi, Couperin, Corelli, Bach, Mozart, and Handel.
The earliest known original compositions specifically for the carillon and not simply any keyboard are the famous eleven preludes of . The structure of his works suggest that he had been playing non-specific keyboard music on the carillon for many years and that he wanted to play music that is idiomatic to the instrument. Technically challenging, his preludes have been standard repertoire among carillonneurs since the early 1900s.
Jef Denyn made many public statements about what music should be performed on the carillon, and he persuaded several composers of the time to write for it. Among those composers were his students , Léon Henry, and . Others were composers of other media, such as Jef van Hoof. The carillon school began publishing carillon music in 1925. The school was the early proponent of the "Mechelen" or "Flemish" style of carillon music, which consists of virtuosic flourishes, fast passages, tremolos, and other Baroque and Romantic elements.
A distinct North American style of carillon music emerged in the 1950s and 1960s at the University of Kansas. Ronald Barnes, the university's carillonneur, encouraged his peers to compose for the carillon and produced many of his own compositions. Barnes' campaign was most successful with Roy Hamlin Johnson, a piano professor who introduced a whole category of music exclusively native to the carillon featuring the octatonic scale. Many of Johnson's works are acknowledged as masterpieces. Barnes produced 56 original compositions and hundreds of arrangements to expand the available repertoire. Other major 20th-century contributors were Albert Gerken, Gary C. White, Johan Franco, and John Pozdro. The new American style developed into the antithesis of the Mechelen style: instead of exciting, tremolo-filled performances that demonstrate the showmanship of the carillonneur, it features slow passages, sparse harmonies, and impressionist themes to draw the listener's attention to the natural sound of the bells.
Carillon music was first published in North America in 1934. G. Schirmer Inc. published the compositions of Curtis Institute of Music students Samuel Barber, Gian Carlo Menotti, and Nino Rota as part of the institute's short-lived publishing series. Music for the instrument was sporadically published in North America until 1961, when the Guild of Carillonneurs in North America began regularly publishing music.
Organization and education.
The World Carillon Federation is the central organization of carillon players and enthusiasts. It was founded in the 1970s as a federation of the preexisting national or regional carillon organizations. it is comprised of 14 member organizations:
The federation organizes an international carillon congress in one of the home countries of the member organizations every three years. The congresses host lectures, workshops, and committee meetings about the topics related to the carillon, for example: news, tutorials and demos, and research developments. Most member organizations publish periodicals to update its members on the current state of carillon culture in their respective regions.
Training to perform on a carillon can be obtained at several institutions, though the Royal Carillon School "Jef Denyn" remains the most sought-after educational program for the carillon in the world. The LUCA School of Arts in Leuven, Belgium offers a master's program in the carillon, and the Utrecht School of the Arts in Amersfoort, Netherlands has a dedicated school. There are schools elsewhere in the United Kingdom, France, and Denmark.
The Guild of Carillonneurs in North America organizes carillon examinations during its annual congresses. Those who pass are certified as carillonneur-members of the guild. It also partners with the North American Carillon School, founded in 2012 as an affiliate of the Royal Carillon School "Jef Denyn." Several American universities offer a carillon program within their curriculum. The University of California, Berkeley, the University of California, Santa Barbara, the University of Michigan, the University of Florida, and the University of Denver offer complete courses of study. Clemson University, the University of Kansas, Iowa State University, Marquette University, and Indiana University offer limited credit for carillon performance. Employed carillonneurs at several universities and also those not employed at university-owned carillons offer private lessons. Universities that possess a carillon but do not offer course credit often have a club or student-run education program, such as the Yale Guild of Carillonneurs, which manages performances on the Yale Memorial Carillon.
Distribution.
There are several institutions which register and count carillons worldwide. Some registries specialize in counting specific types of carillons. For example, the War Memorial and Peace Carillons registry counts instruments which serve as war memorials or were built in the name of promoting world peace. The World Carillon Federation counts only "traditional carillons," i.e. carillons which are played via a baton keyboard and without computerized or electronic mechanisms. TowerBells counts both traditional and non-traditional carillons, among other bell instruments, and publishes maps, technical specifications, and summary statistics.
According to TowerBells and the World Carillon Federation, there are about 700 existing traditional carillons. At least three can be found on every content except Antarctica; however, of the countries in which traditional carillons can be found, only 6 have more than 20. The "great carillon" countries—the Netherlands, Belgium, and the United States—account for two-thirds of the world total. Over 90percent are located in either Western Europe (mainly the Low Countries) or North America. In North America, about 80percent of carillons are owned by religious or educational institutions, while in Europe, nearly all carillons are municipally owned. Almost all extant traditional carillons were constructed in the last 100 years; only some fifty historical carillons from the 18th century or earlier still exist. According to TowerBells, there are an additional 483 non-traditional carillons, which are mainly located in the United States and Western Europe.
Traveling carillons.
Traveling or mobile carillons are those which are not housed in a tower. Instead, the bells and playing console are installed on a frame that allow it to be transported. These carillons have to be much lighter than their non-mobile counterparts. The idea of a traveling carillon was conceived between 1933 and 1938 by Nora Johnston. She connected a traditional baton keyboard to a system of chime bars and fixed the structure to a portable frame. Johnston traveled twice to the United States to perform in documentary radio programs, orchestral concerts, and commercials. Subsequent constructions by others consisted of actual carillon bells.
According to counts by the World Carillon Federation and TowerBells, there are about 20 existing traveling carillons with only 3 being non-traditional. Many were or are currently owned by bell foundries as a promotional tool. Almost all traveling carillons are headquartered in Western Europe and the United States. Two American traveling carillons are part of the musical group "Cast in Bronze", which features the "The Spirit of the Bells" playing the carillon in concert with other instruments or a recording. "Cast in Bronze" is credited with introducing the carillon to the general public of the United States in its mission to promote and preserve the instrument.


Savage Model 24

The Savage Model 24 is an American made over-and-under combination gun manufactured by Savage Arms. The basic .22LR over .410 gauge model weighs 7 pounds, has 24-inch barrels and an overall length of 41-inches. It may also be disassembled for ease of stowage.
History.
The Savage Model 24 was actually introduced by Stevens Arms as the Model 22-410 in 1938. During World War II the United States Army Air Corps purchased some 15,000 Model 22-410s for use as survival guns.
In 1950, Stevens stopped making the 22-410, and Savage introduced the same gun as the Model 24. The basic .22LR over .410 gauge model weighs 7 pounds, has 24-inch barrels and an overall length of 41-inches. It may also be disassembled for ease of storage. Over its many years of production, it was made in a number of versions, including a pistol grip model that is only 26 inches long. The upper rifle barrels were chambered not only in .22 LR, but also 22 WMR, .22 Hornet, .222 Rem, .223 Rem, .30-30 Win, .357 Magnum, and .357 Max. And, the lower shotgun barrels were chambered for .410 gauge, 20-gauge, and 12-gauge. They came with both wood and plastic stocks that may or may not hold extra ammunition in the butt. As well as, a variety of finishes and grades. The Model 24 was discontinued in 2010.
Design.
The Stevens and early Savages models have one trigger and an exposed hammer, with a barrel selector on the right side of the receiver (up for the rifle barrel and down for the shotgun barrel) and no manual safety. Later models had the selector on the top of the exposed hammer (forward/down for shotgun barrel and back/up for the rifle barrel) with a cross-bolt hammer-block safety through the receiver.
Savage Model 242.
The Savage Model 242 is virtually identical to the Model 24, except that both barrels are chambered for .410 bore 3" Magnum with FULL chokes. These guns were manufactured between 1977 and 1981. Like all later Model 24s, it uses a single trigger and single exposed hammer with a barrel selector lever incorporated into the hammer. It also has a checkered stock and a shotgun bead sight.
Savage Model 42.
The Savage Model 42 combo-gun was introduced in 2012, as the successor to the Model 24. The Model 42s barrels are 20 inches long, and the upper barrel fires .22 LR or .22 Magnum, while the lower barrel fires .410 gauge shells. It features black plastic furniture and the adjustable rifle sights can be removed to install a scope base. In 2016, Savage Arms introduced the Model 42 "Takedown" model which breaks down with the push of one button.
Savage Model 2400.
The Savage Model 2400 was made by Valmet of Finland and imported by Savage from 1975 to 1980. It is a completely new design and has little in common with the Model 24. The 2400 features a Superposed hammerless design with a single trigger. The fire selector was a small push button on the upper part of the trigger. They came in 12 gauge (2 3/4" only) over .308 Win or 12 Gauge (2 3/4" only) over .222 Rem.
Savage Model 389.
The Savage Model 389 is an Italian combo-gun made for Savage from 1988 to 1990. Like the 2400 it also features a Superposed hammerless design. However, the 389 has two triggers and came in 12 gauge (3" Magnum) over .308 Win or 12 Gauge (3" Magnum) over .222 Rem.


Atomtronics

Atomtronics is an emerging sub-field of ultracold atomic physics which encompasses a broad range of topics featuring guided atomic matter waves. The systems typically include components analogous to those found in electronic or optical systems, such as beam splitters and transistors. Applications range from studies of fundamental physics to the development of practical devices.
Etymology.
Atomtronics is a portmanteau of "atom" and "electronics", in reference to the creation of atomic analogues of electronic components, such as transistors and diodes, and also electronic materials such as semiconductors. The field itself has considerable overlap with atom optics and quantum simulation, and is not strictly limited to the development of electronic-like components.
Methodology.
Three major elements are required for an atomtronic circuit. The first is a Bose-Einstein condensate, which is needed for its coherent and superfluid properties, although an ultracold Fermi gas may also be used for certain applications. The second is a tailored trapping potential, which can be generated optically, magnetically, or using a combination of both. The final element is a method to induce movement of atoms within the potential, which can be achieved in a number of ways. For example, a transistor-like atomtronic circuit may be realized by a ring-shaped trap divided into two by two moveable weak barriers, with the two separate parts of the ring acting as the drain and the source, and the barriers acting as the gate. As the barriers move, atoms flow from the source to the drain. It is now possible to coherently guide matterwaves over distances of up to 40 cm in ring-shaped atomtronic matterwave guides.
Applications.
The field of atomtronics is still very young. Any schemes realized thus far are proof-of-principle. Applications include:
Obstacles to the development of practical sensing devices are largely due to the technical challenges of creating Bose-Einstein condensates, as they require bulky lab-based setups not easily suitable for transportation, although creating portable experimental setups is an active area of research.


Adrian Thomas (zoologist)

Adrian Leland Rees Thomas (born 1963) is a professor of biomechanics at the University of Oxford and Director of Studies in Biological Sciences at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford running the Animal Flight Research Group. He is co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer at Animal Dynamics and is also chairman of the flight section of the Bionis International Biomimetics Network.
Education.
Thomas was educated at Abingdon School and studied zoology at Oxford as an undergraduate from 1981 to 1984. He completed a Doctor of Philosophy degree at Lund University in 1995 on the flight feathers of birds.
Career and research.
Thomas was appointed a fellow of Lady Margaret Hall in 1998 and professor of biomechanics in 2006. He founded the University of Oxford Animal Flight Research Group in 1996. His mechanical analogue of dragonflies was developed by his company, Animal Dynamics Ltd, to make small unmanned aerial vehicles (aka drones or ornithopters) to outperform quadcopters. His work has been funded by the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory, the research arm of the British Ministry of Defence, and the United States Air Force. The company is an Oxford University spin-off started in 2015 with co-founder Alex Caccia. The company has expanded into the biomechanics of fish to develop a machine powered by the same type of flapping propulsion.
His research investigates insect flight using dragonflies, butterflies, desert locusts and hawkmoths. Thomas has supervised several Doctor of Philosophy students including Graham Taylor, Simon Walker and Richard Bomphrey.
Thomas was a British champion in paragliding in 2006 and 2009. He is an executive board member of the British Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association. He was an aerodynamics consultant with Airwave Gliders GmbH, who manufactured paragliders, hang-gliders and ultralight aircraft.


Onefin electric ray

The onefin electric ray or Cape numbfish ("Narke capensis") is a common but little-known species of electric ray in the family Narkidae, native to South Africa and Namibia. It is a benthic fish found in shallow coastal bays over sandy or muddy bottoms. This small species reaches in length, and has a nearly circular pectoral fin disc and a short, muscular tail that supports a large caudal fin. It can be identified by its single dorsal fin, which is located over the large pelvic fins. Its dorsal coloration is yellowish to dusky brown.
Like other members of its family, the onefin electric ray can defend itself with a strong electric shock produced from a pair of kidney-shaped electric organs beside its head. It feeds mainly on polychaete worms, and likely gives birth to live young. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) presently lacks enough information to assess the conservation status of this species. It is often caught incidentally by bottom trawl fisheries off South Africa, and may also be impacted by pollution from coastal development.
Taxonomy.
The onefin electric ray was described by German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin in 1789, in the 13th edition of "Systema Naturae". Gmelin's name for the species was printed as "Raja capensis" in some copies of the book, and as "Raja rapensis" in others. The original spelling was probably "rapensis", which modern taxonomists regard as a typesetting error as the etymology of "capensis" ("of the Cape [of Good Hope]") is far more reasonable. Later sources have consistently used "capensis", though to officially fix the specific epithet under that spelling would require a decision by the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN). Gmelin did not refer to any type specimens. In 1826, German naturalist Johann Jakob Kaup created the new genus "Narke" for this species, separating it from the other electric rays known at the time on the basis of its curved back and single dorsal fin. Later, more species were assigned to "Narke".
Description.
The pectoral fin disc of the onefin electric ray is wider than long and almost circular in shape. The two large, kidney-shaped electric organs are visible beneath the skin on either side of the head. The eyes are small and protruding; the larger spiracles lie closely behind and have three small finger-like projections on their rims. The nostrils are placed rather close together, and between them is a long skirt-like flap of skin that reaches the mouth. The small and protrusible mouth is nearly straight and surrounded by prominent furrows. The teeth are tiny and pointed. There are five pairs of small gill slits on the underside of the disc.
The large and broad pelvic fins have convex margins and originate beneath the pectoral fins. Adult males have stubby claspers. There is a single rounded dorsal fin positioned over the pelvic fins. The short and thick tail has a skin fold running along either side and terminates in a large triangular caudal fin with rounded corners, which is almost symmetrical above and below. The soft skin is completely devoid of dermal denticles. This species varies from yellowish brown to dusky brown above; parts of the tail's upper surface are yellowish. The underside is white to yellow with brown fin margins. It grows up to long and across, though individuals of this size are rare.
Distribution and habitat.
The onefin electric ray is common off the Eastern and Western Cape Provinces of South Africa. Its range extends to central Namibia, with a single specimen recorded from Meob Bay and a second unconfirmed sighting from Walvis Bay. A historical record of this species from Madagascar may be a misidentification. Bottom-dwelling in nature, the onefin electric ray mainly inhabits bays with sandy or muddy bottoms. It is most often found in waters shallower than , though it has been recorded from as deep as .
Biology and ecology.
Relative to its small size, the onefin electric ray can deliver an extremely powerful electric shock to defend itself against predators, which include the broadnose sevengill shark ("Notorynchus cepedianus"). It propels itself using its muscular tail rather than its pectoral fins. The diet of this species consists mainly of polychaete worms. The reproductive biology of the onefin electric ray has not been documented; presumably it is viviparous like other electric rays. Males mature sexually at somewhere between long, while females mature at around long.
Human interactions.
The shock produced by the onefin electric ray can be painful, but is not substantially dangerous to humans. Though not utilized economically, this ray is frequently caught as bycatch in bottom trawls in South African waters. Because of its inshore habits, it may also be negatively affected by water pollution from coastal development.


Baton (conducting)

A baton is a stick that is used by conductors primarily to enlarge and enhance the manual and bodily movements associated with directing an ensemble of musicians.
Description.
Modern batons are generally made of a lightweight wood, fiberglass or carbon fiber which is tapered to a comfortable grip called a "bulb" that is usually made of cork, oak, walnut, rosewood, or occasionally aluminium and that may be tailored to a conductor's needs. Professional conductors often have personal specifications for a baton based on their own physical demands and the nature of the performance: Sir Henry Wood and Herbert von Karajan are some examples. Historic examples of their construction include one given to the French composer Louis-Antoine Jullien in the mid 1850s prior to his first visit to the United States: it is described as "a gorgeous baton made of maplewood, richly mounted in gold and set with costly diamonds."
Batons have normally varied in length from about though a range of between is more commonly used; Henry Wood once requested the use of a 24-inch baton. When Gaspare Spontini arrived in Dresden in 1844, Wagner had a baton made from a thick ebony staff with ivory knobs at either end. Spontini purportedly held the baton in the center with a fist, using it like a marshall's staff—not for beating time but rather for commanding the opera.
Usage.
Conductors view their gestures as the primary means to communicate musical ideas, whether or not they choose to use batons. Leonard Bernstein is quoted as saying, "If one [the conductor] uses a baton, the baton itself must be a living thing, charged with a kind of electricity, which makes it an instrument of meaning in its tiniest movement."
The usual way of holding the baton is between the thumb and the first two fingers with the grip in against the palm of the hand. The baton is usually held in the right hand though some left-handed conductors hold it in the left. Young left-handed conductors are, however, sometimes encouraged to learn right-handed conducting.
Some conductors like Pierre Boulez, Georges Prêtre, Leopold Stokowski, Valery Gergiev, Dimitri Mitropoulos, and Ken-David Masur, however, choose not to hold a baton, preferring to conduct only with their hands. This method is common with smaller groups and choral conductors.
If the conductor does not use a baton, their hands must do the job with equal clarity, and the gestures must be first and always meaningful in terms of the music. According to Gustav Meier, most conductors use a baton to "increase the visibility of the beat information".
History.
Before the use of the baton, orchestral ensembles were conducted from the harpsichord or the first violin lead. Conductors first began to use violin bows or rolled pieces of paper before the modern baton was introduced.
Ancient history.
The first reported use of the conducting staff in a performance dates back to 709 BC, during which the leader, "Pherekydes of Patrae, giver of rhythm" had,
...stationed himself in the centre and had placed himself on a high seat, waving a golden staff, and the players on the flute and cythara were...placed in a circle around him...now when Pherekydes with his golden staff gave the signal, all the art-experienced men began in one and the same time...
16th–18th centuries.
On 8 January 1687, Jean-Baptiste Lully was conducting a "Te Deum" to celebrate Louis XIV of France's recent recovery from illness. As was the common practice, he was beating time by banging a long staff (a precursor to the baton; the French word "bâton" actually meaning "staff") against the floor when he struck his toe, creating an abscess. The wound turned gangrenous, but Lully refused to have his toe amputated and the infection spread, resulting in his death on 22 March.
Different eyewitnesses to the premiere performance of Joseph Haydn's Creation in April of 1798 indicate that Haydn used a baton to conduct with his hands. Said Princess Eleanor von Liechtenstein, "Hayden ["sic"] gave the tempo with his two hands;" and wrote a Swedish relative of Franz Berwald, "on a higher level stood Haydn himself with his baton."
19th century.
The baton began to gain in popularity between 1820 and 1840. The first batons were narrow and conical wooden wands that had an engraving of three rings near the bottom that indicated the handle. The Halle Orchestra reported that Daniel Turk used a baton in 1810, with motions so exuberant that he occasionally hit the chandelier above his head and showered himself with glass.
Louis Spohr claimed to have introduced the baton to England on 10 April 1820, while conducting his second symphony with the Philharmonic Society in London. Witnesses noted that the conductor "sits there and turns over the leaves of the score but after all, he cannot, without ... his baton, lead on his musical army". It is more likely that he used his baton in rehearsal than in concert. It was 1825 when George Smart reported that he sometimes 'beat time in front with a short stick'.
When Felix Mendelssohn returned to London in 1832, despite objections from violin leaders, he was encouraged to go on with his baton. Despite the initial disagreement, the baton was in regular use at the Philharmonic a year later.
Jazz batons.
In the early 1940s, while big band jazz music was on the rise, the use of a conductor became paramount to the success of the ensemble. To accommodate this, these conductors started using specialized "jazz batons." These specialized batons were slightly shorter than standard batons, ranging from 6 to 9 inches in length. Several famous jazz conductors that used these specific batons include Quincy Jones, Gunther Schuller and Richard Rogers. Although they are rarely used today, many accomplished jazz conductors use them during ballads.


CS mount


Scary Dairy

The Scary Dairy is an old dairy farm adjacent to the former Camarillo State Mental Hospital, now California State University, Channel Islands. It was run and maintained by the staff and patients of the hospital as a form of work experience and additional income for the hospital. In the 1960s the dairy was closed and the buildings fell into disarray and have since been heavily vandalized.
The land is now a part of the California State University, Channel Islands. The public is welcome to explore by foot during the day. University police officers patrol the area frequently and are on the lookout for large groups of youth, vandals and firearms of any kind (including paintball guns) and any other suspicious activity. The field adjacent to the dairy has been used for sheriff exercises and training. The trails around the dairy are used by hikers, runners and photographers.


Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part L

The Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part L: Journal of Materials: Design and Applications is a peer-reviewed scientific journal that covers the usage and design of materials for application in engineering. The journal was established in 1999 and is published by Sage Publications on behalf of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers.
Abstracting and indexing.
The journal is abstracted and indexed in Scopus and the Science Citation Index Expanded. According to the "Journal Citation Reports", its 2013 impact factor is 0.746, ranking it 183rd out of 251 journals in the category "Materials Science, Multidisciplinary".


List of organ composers

The following is a list of organ composers. It lists the more-important composers of music for the pipe organ.


Trigger (drums)

In drumming, a trigger is an electronic transducer that can be attached to a drum, cymbal or other instrument to enable it to control an electronic drum unit or similar device.
Specialised triggers are produced for specific instruments. A snare drum trigger, for example, will often have two channels, one each for the rim and head, while a tom-tom drum trigger usually needs to only register strokes to the drum head.
Drum triggers gained great attention in the beginning of the 1990s, being extensively used on bass drums in heavy metal music.
The advantage of using drum triggers is that potential problems associated with using microphones can be overcome by triggering pre-recorded samples. It is commonly quoted that less effort is required from the drummer when using drum triggers. The drum module to which the trigger is connected can be adjusted to accommodate a range of volumes, thus preserving the dynamic range of the drummer's playing. Triggers have a greater use in live performances than in studio recordings, since some drummers dislike the processed triggered sound, labelled by some as artificial.


HTC RE

HTC RE refers to a series of products made by HTC, including the RE Camera camera device, Vive virtual-reality headset, and the Grip fitness tracker.


Remington Model 580

The Remington Model 580, 581, and 582 are a family of bolt-action rifles, manufactured from 1967 to 1999. The rifles were introduced as a replacement for the previous Model 511. The 580 series was a lower-cost rifle patterned after the contemporary Model 788 centerfire rifle and shares that rifle's rear-locking bolt.


Apple Pro Mouse

The Apple Mouse (originally branded as the Apple Pro Mouse) was introduced in July 2000 at the Macworld Conference & Expo in New York City. Apple Computer was the first company to ship an optical mouse as the standard input device with all its desktops. While the industrial design of the Pro Mouse was handled entirely by Apple's in-house designers, some of the hardware has been engineered by Sparkfactor Design. The Pro Mouse was included with the Power Mac G4 Cube, also introduced at that year's Macworld. Apple was the first company to use USB mice and keyboards exclusively when they introduced the "hockey-puck" mouse with the original iMac G3 in May 1998. Like the "hockey-puck" mouse and all future mice Apple would make, the Apple Pro Mouse was a USB mouse with a much shorter cord than its ADB predecessors; its 2-foot cord was designed to plug neatly into one of the two ports of the Apple Pro Keyboard's built-in USB hub. The Apple Pro Mouse also featured a unique mechanism to allow for three click force settings for the required pressure to click the mouse. The Apple Pro Mouse was originally released on the iMac G3 "Snow."
Combined with a rising tide of suggestions that Apple switch to a typical two-button wheel mouse for their pack-in bundles, the unique design of the Pro Mouse's body inspired jokes that Apple had made a zero-button mouse in response.
The original Pro Mouse was available only in black, which matched the black Apple Pro Keyboard. It was not until later that the mouse cable was available in white with the debut of the Power Mac G4 MDD 2003, a revision which also solved reliability problems with a more rugged cord and improved stress relief. In May 2003, the mouse and keyboard were both redesigned, though the exterior of the mouse had few noticeable changes: Apple dropped the "Pro" from the name, and removed the ability to control the firmness of click in the Apple Mouse. From then on, the Pro Mouse was known simply as the "Apple Mouse." This white mouse was later included with the Power Mac G5, the eMac, and the iMac G4 and G5.
On August 2, 2005, Apple replaced the Apple Mouse with the Apple Mighty Mouse. The Mighty Mouse featured a 360° scroll ball, touch-sensitive buttons, and a pressure-sensitive "squeeze" functionality (set by default to activate the Exposé feature in Panther, Tiger, and Leopard.) Soon afterwards, the Apple Mouse was discontinued completely. On July 25, 2006, Apple introduced a wireless Mighty Mouse which uses Bluetooth.


Hyperopisus


Paul G. Hoffman

Paul Gray Hoffman (April 26, 1891October 8, 1974) was an American automobile company executive, statesman, and global development aid administrator. He was the first administrator of the Economic Cooperation Administration, where he led the implementation of the Marshall Plan from 1948–1950.
Life and work.
Hoffman was born in Western Springs, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. He quit his studies at the University of Chicago at 18 to sell Studebaker cars in Los Angeles, had made his first million dollars by the age of 34, and became president of Studebaker ten years later. Hoffman and Harold Sines Vance were the two executives most responsible for rescuing Studebaker from insolvency in the 1930s.
From 1935 to 1948, Hoffman served as president of Studebaker. From 1950 to 1953, he also served as the president of the Ford Foundation.
Returning to Studebaker in 1953, Hoffman was chairman of the corporation during the turbulent period leading up to and during the 1954 merger with the Packard Motor Car Company. When Studebaker-Packard found itself nearing insolvency in 1956, the company entered into an Eisenhower Administration-brokered management agreement with Curtiss-Wright. Hoffman, Vance (who had become chairman of the executive committee after the Packard merger) and S-P president James J. Nance all left the company.
From 1966 to 1972, he was the first administrator of the United Nations Development Programme when it was founded, with David Owen as his co-administrator.
On June 21, 1974, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Richard Nixon.
The Marshall Plan.
President Harry S. Truman nominated Hoffman to lead the Economic Cooperation Administration (ECA) in April 1948. Truman initially wanted to nominate Dean Acheson, but Hoffman was a more acceptable candidate to Congress, which preferred someone with more business acumen. In this role as administrator, he was responsible for managing the distribution of U.S. aid to post-WWII Europe. He primarily worked with the Organization of European Economic Cooperation (OEEC) and coordinated policy with the U.S. State Department.
He was a forceful advocate of European integration. In September 1949, Hoffman and his staff met in Washington to assess the progress of the Marshall Plan. They agreed that the "salvage function is substantially completed" and that the ECA should now focus on integrating the economies of Europe by supporting European-led initiatives to reduce trade barriers, coordinate fiscal policy, streamline regulation, and ensure currency convertibility and stability. This would, in their view, strengthen the European economies so that by they could be "free from dependence on sustained outside assistance."
His most famous speech as ECA administrator was his October 31, 1949 address to the OEEC in which he argued that Europe must integrate. Invoking a comparison to the United States, he argued:The substance of such integration would be the formation of a single large market within which quantitative restriction on the movements of goods, monetary barriers to the flow of payments and, eventually, all tariffs are permanently swept away. The fact that we have in the United States a single market of 156 million consumers has been indispensable to the strength and efficiency of our economy. The creation of a permanent, freely trading area, comprising 270 million consumers in Western Europe would have a multitude of helpful consequences. It would accelerate the development of large-scale, low-cost production industries. It would make the effective use of all resources easier, the stifling of healthy competition more difficult... This is why integration is not just an ideal. It is a practical necessity. He concluded this speech with a veiled threat that the U.S. Congress may not continue to fund the Marshall Plan if the Europeans did not integrate. Congressional leadership was, indeed, skeptical of continuing to fund the Marshall Plan absent integration.
Hoffman's tenure as administrator of ECA was marked by dramatic improvements in the industrial and agricultural output of countries receiving Marshall Plan aid.
Personal life.
Hoffman's first wife was Dorothy Brown. They married in 1915. She died in May 1961. She was a Christian Scientist. The couple had five sons, Hallock, Peter, Donald, Robert and Lathrop, and two adopted daughters, Barbara and Kiriki. Hoffman married businesswoman Anna M. Rosenberg on July 19, 1962.


Zener effect

In electronics, the Zener effect (employed most notably in the appropriately named Zener diode) is a type of electrical breakdown, discovered by Clarence Melvin Zener. It occurs in a reverse biased p-n diode when the electric field enables tunneling of electrons from the valence to the conduction band of a semiconductor, leading to numerous free minority carriers which suddenly increase the reverse current.
Mechanism.
Under a high reverse-bias voltage, the p-n junction's depletion region widens which leads to a high-strength electric field across the junction. Sufficiently strong electric fields enable tunneling of electrons across the depletion region of a semiconductor, leading to numerous free charge carriers. This sudden generation of carriers rapidly increases the reverse current and gives rise to the high slope conductance of the Zener diode.
Relationship to the avalanche effect.
The Zener effect is distinct from avalanche breakdown. Avalanche breakdown involves minority carrier electrons in the transition region being accelerated, by the electric field, to energies sufficient for freeing electron-hole pairs via collisions with bound electrons. The Zener and the avalanche effect may occur simultaneously or independently of one another. In general, diode junction breakdowns occurring below 5 volts are caused by the Zener effect, whereas breakdowns occurring above 5 volts are caused by the avalanche effect. Breakdowns occurring at voltages close to 5V are usually caused by some combination of the two effects.
Zener breakdown voltage is found to occur at electric field intensity of about .
Zener breakdown occurs in heavily doped junctions (p-type semiconductor moderately doped and n-type heavily doped), which produces a narrow depletion region. The avalanche breakdown occurs in lightly doped junctions, which produce a wider depletion region. Temperature increase in the junction increases the contribution of the Zener effect to breakdown, and decreases the contribution of the avalanche effect.


Partnership of a European Group of Aeronautics and Space Universities

The Partnership of a European Group of Aeronautics and Space UniversitieS (PEGASUS) is a network of aeronautical universities in Europe created in order to facilitate student exchanges and collaborative research between universities.
It has been originally created by the " groupement des écoles aéronautiques françaises" (group of French aeronautical "grandes écoles") (ENAC, ENSMA and ISAE) in 1998.
The European manufacturers like Airbus have close contact with PEGASUS network.
Member universities.
The network consists of 25 universities in 10 countries:


Trigger pad

A trigger pad is an electronic sensor on a drum that produces a certain sound assigned from a sound module once the head has been struck. This device allows drummers to play at a constant dynamic regardless of the physical force used.
Triggers are also used to add more definition to drum sounds and prevent bleeding between sound sources, making it easier to hear clearly every drum hit without rumble or excessive cymbals. An example is where very rapid bass drum hits become difficult to distinguish or even hear in the presence of a full band.
Other uses.
Triggers are used to count and monitor drum hits, usually as a training device (e.g., to see if a drummer misses hits), and to officially monitor tests and competitions of drumming speed.
Mike Portnoy uses an electronic drum pad with a hardwired electronic metronome as what he calls the "secret cowbell", to count off the songs in a way that only his fellow band members and the technicians can hear.
Triggers can send a MIDI to a lighting control console to signal a change in stage displays.


SEAL Recon Rifle

The SEAL Recon Rifle, built in-house by U.S. Navy SEAL Team armorers, and later by the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Crane Division (often referred to as NSWC-Crane or "Crane"), was developed to provide SEAL snipers with a portable, lightweight, accurate weapon with greater lethality than a standard M4 carbine. The SEAL Recon Rifle is sometimes referred to as the "Recce Rifle".
When production of this rifle was turned over to NSWC-Crane, U.S. Army funding and concepts were apparently incorporated into the program (there is some confusion as to the exact events). The SEAL Teams were apparently disappointed with the performance of the resulting Mk 12 Special Purpose Rifle (SPR), and convinced the program managers at Crane to return to the original specifications. Production of Recon rifle on the original pattern is progressing now according to several sources.
The Recce rifle's existence was more so a conceptualization of an accurized rifle that shares the same ammo as the standard infantrymen's rifle, with enhanced capabilities, than it is a specification in itself. However, as rifle technologies advanced throughout the 21st Century, the specifications begin to blend or blur tremendously.
Specifications.
The SEAL Recon Rifle was initially built in-house with the only specifications being the ability to shoot any 5.56×45mm cartridge in inventory (at the time this included the first iterations of the 77-grain (5 g) Mk 262 Mod 0 cartridge), and that the rifle have a barrel 16 inches (406 mm) in length.
The barrel blanks have a 1:8 in (203 mm) twist and are stainless steel with a unique heavy barrel profile, starting with 0.980 in (25 mm) in diameter for the first 2.60 in (66 mm) of length, then narrowing down to 0.850 (22 mm) in diameter, 0.750 in (19 mm) in diameter underneath the front sight block, and 0.725 in (18 mm) in diameter to the muzzle. The barrels have the Ops Inc 12th model suppressors with the specified muzzle brake to mount the suppressor. A carbine-length gas system is used. These barrels were mated to flat top upper receivers, and back up iron sights (BUIS) from KAC (Knight's Armament Company).
Beyond this, exact specifications vary. Since they were built in house, they seem to have been accessorized to personal preferences, with fixed (A1 and A2 styles) and retractable butt-stocks. (Original 4-point and improved 6-point Colt stocks, and the Crane/SOCOM/LMT stock are all in use.) Recon rifles built by Crane are reportedly all fitted with a free-float handguard system, the most popular being the Knight's Armament Co. M4 Match RAS and the LaRue free-float handguards in the longer lengths (which protect the barrel and provide more area to mount tactical accessories). Knights Armament Corp (KAC) free floated rails (P/N 20214) were most oftenly used by the time of Global War on Terror, which was the basis for the Mk. 12 mod. 1 rifle. Barrels were a mix of stainless Lilja or Douglas and SOCOM heavy profile barrels, the former offered exceptional accuracy (1 MOA or better) whilst the latter offer as much accuracy but with better barrel life. Some operators reportedly use various back-up iron sights (BUISs) by Knight's, ARMS Inc, and Troy Industries, while others do not. The range of optics used on Recon rifles is wide, with various models by Trijicon (like ACOG TA01, TA31F), Leupold (TS-30A1, TS-30A2), and Nightforce (NAVSPEC NXS 2.5-10x24) in use.


Novero

Novero is a company making Telematics products for automotive clients. Novero has customers including Audi, Bentley, BMW, Ford of Europe, Jaguar, Land Rover, Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen, and others.
Founded in 2008 by Romanian entrepreneur Razvan Olosu, via a management buyout of Nokia’s Automotive Group, Novero is headquartered in Düsseldorf, Germany with a main R&D center in Bochum and other business units in Toronto and Dabendorf.
Originally, Novero had both consumer products and automotive products in its portfolio. Since the management change in November 2013, Novero is solely focusing on the Automotive Business.
In November 2012, Novero acquired Funkwerk Dabendorf, a former company from the Funkwerk AG. Funkwerk Dabendorf was first re-branded to novero Dabendorf and later – after the corporate identity change in 2013 – simply to Novero. The Dabendorf business unit is specialized in wireless charging, antenna coupling, Near Field Communication and is well known for the Compenser technology.