Safir T-series

The Safir T-series is a line of firearms produced by AKSA int arms, also known as Safir Arms, of Turkey.
Safir T-15 and T-16.
The Safir T-15 is a semi-automatic rifle based on the AR-15. It is intended for civilian and police use, but Safir arms makes selective-fire version of the same design as the T-16 for military customers as well as a manually operated version for those who can not legally own semiautomatic rifles.
Safir T-14.
The Safir T-14 is a semi-automatic shotgun. chambered in the .410 round that operates on a short stroke piston and outwardly resembles an AR-15.


Mouthpiece (brass)

The mouthpiece on brass instruments is the part of the instrument placed on the player's lips. The mouthpiece is a circular opening that is enclosed by a rim and that leads to the instrument via a semi-spherical or conical cavity called the cup. From the cup, a smaller opening (the throat) leads into a tapered cylindrical passage called the backbore. The backbore is housed in a tapered shank, which is inserted into an opening called the receiver on the main body of the instrument.
On all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's vibrating lips (embouchure) cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate. This is done by pressing the lips together and blowing air through them in order to produce a 'buzz.' The mouthpiece is where this lip vibration takes place. On most instruments, the mouthpiece can be detached from the main instrument in order to facilitate putting the instrument in its case, to use different mouthpieces with the same instrument, or to 'play' the mouthpiece by itself to exercise the player's embouchure.
Different mouthpieces will produce different qualities of tone when used with the same instrument. Lower instruments also have larger mouthpieces, to maximize resonance (see pitch of brass instruments). Also, mouthpieces are selected to suit the embouchure of the player, to produce a certain timbre, or to optimize the instrument for certain playing styles. For example, trumpet and trombone mouthpieces are usually semi-spherical whereas French horn mouthpieces are conical.
Mouthpiece design.
The mouthpiece has a large effect on instrument sound. Major effects are due to the shape of the cup, shape of the throat, and the inner rim diameter. In addition, players often choose a mouthpiece that complements their playing styles. In general, brass players who concentrate on the upper range prefer a mouthpiece with a narrow bore, and players who emphasize the lower range prefer a wider bore. The cup depth also heavily influences the tone of the brass instrument. A shallow cup will brighten the sound, which is good for trumpeters doing a solo, while the deep cups darken the sound, which is better for blending in with an orchestra.
Material.
Makers commonly construct mouthpieces from one of two types of material, with different costs, properties, and features. Metal mouthpieces can be plated with some other metal. Some of the following assertions, especially those regarding the effect of plating on tone color, are questioned by many players and specialists.
Brass.
Mouthpieces have traditionally been formed of solid brass. Due to brass often containing lead and being toxic upon contact, brass mouthpieces are usually plated with either gold or silver to protect the player from potential brass poisoning.
Plastic.
Plastic mouthpieces are usually made of Lexan plastic, and are often available in various colors. They are durable and don't dent as do metal mouthpieces. Less expensive than metal mouthpieces, players commonly use them when playing outdoors—particularly marching brass players—because their heat conductivity is far less than in a metal mouthpiece. Players who prefer metal mouthpieces generally believe plastic mouthpieces have an inferior tone quality and feel compared to metal.
Other.
Recent additions to the mouthpiece world include stainless steel, titanium, and wood. They are relatively rare, produced by few manufacturers. Some players feel stainless steel and titanium mouthpieces provide advantages over the classic brass mouthpiece, including, anecdotally, a more centered feel and sound, as stainless steel and titanium do not absorb as many vibrations as brass, they require much less care, etc.—but they are much more expensive. (Titanium mouthpieces cost up to US$400 each.)
Silver plating.
Silver plating is common on all brass mouthpieces because it is cost-effective and good in terms of tone quality. It is also moderately germicidal. Silver plating is not as comfortable or as expensive as gold, but has properties and qualities that some feel facilitate certain styles of playing. Some believe that silver plate provides a clearer, darker sound than gold and is good for styles of playing that require clarity and projection. Silver-plate is less expensive than gold, but requires more maintenance because it tarnishes easily. Slightly tarnished silver-plate can be polished back to its brightness with silver polish.
Gold plating.
Some players believe gold-plated mouthpieces on brass instruments create a fuller, richer tone that can also be somewhat darker timbre. For people allergic to the nickel found in most silver, this is the best (but not cheapest) way to play a brass instrument without discomfort. Gold does not tarnish, and subsequently requires little maintenance apart from regular washing with soap and water. The extreme price of gold, however, means that the plating is usually relatively thin and thus fragile, and can even be worn away with use.
Sizes.
Each mouthpiece company uses a different labeling system. A larger number can mean a larger "or" smaller mouthpiece depending on the company. Likewise, the letters mean different things depending on the company. Even if companies appear to share marking systems it may be that same-marked mouthpieces from different manufacturers are different, although usually the differences are relatively small. There is no universally-recognized industry standard.


Bell cymbal

A bell cymbal, bell splash cymbal, or ice bell is a small, very thick cymbal with little if any taper, used as an effects cymbal in a drum kit. The sound produced when striking the bell cymbal with a drumstick is a distinctive high-pitched ping sound with a long sustain. Some manufacturers list bell cymbals as a type of splash cymbal, others as a distinct type.
The name "bell cymbal" is suggestive both of its tone, which is distinctly bell like, and also the earliest examples, which were made by drummers cutting down a larger cymbal (often one damaged at the rim) so that only the "bell" of the cymbal remained.
Bell cymbals vary greatly in profile. In some, there is no bow at all, the entire cymbal is in the shape of a concave downwards cymbal bell, similar to the earliest examples. Others have the shape of a traditional Turkish cymbal, with a smallish bell in proportion to the size of the cymbal, and still others are intermediate between these two extremes.
Bell cymbals are most commonly six to ten inches in diameter, but larger and smaller examples are found occasionally, down to four inches, and Paiste make one at thirteen inches.
Cup chime.
A cup chime is a bell cymbal used as pitched percussion. Sets of cup chimes are used as melodic percussion.


USS Howett (PF-84)


Electronic system


Edit menu

The Edit menu is a menu-type graphical control element found in most computer programs that handle files, text or images. It is often the second menu in the menu bar, next to the file menu.
Whereas the file menu commonly contains commands about handling of files, such as open, save, and print, the edit menu commonly contains commands relating to the handling of information within a file, e.g. cut and paste and selection commands. In addition, it may also be home to the undo and redo commands, especially in word processors. It may also contain commands for locating information, e.g. find commands. In graphics-oriented programs, it often contains commands relating to the manipulation of images, for example the crop command.


Electrostatics

Electrostatics is a branch of physics that studies electric charges at rest.
Since classical physics, it has been known that some materials, such as amber, attract lightweight particles after rubbing. The Greek word for amber, , or "", was thus the source of the word 'electricity'. Electrostatic phenomena arise from the forces that electric charges exert on each other. Such forces are described by Coulomb's law.
Even though electrostatically induced forces seem to be rather weak, some electrostatic forces such as the one between an electron and a proton, that together make up a hydrogen atom, is about 36 orders of magnitude stronger than the gravitational force acting between them.
There are many examples of electrostatic phenomena, from those as simple as the attraction of the plastic wrap to one's hand after it is removed from a package to the apparently spontaneous explosion of grain silos, the damage of electronic components during manufacturing, and photocopier & laser printer operation. Electrostatics involves the buildup of charge on the surface of objects due to contact with other surfaces. Although charge exchange happens whenever any two surfaces contact and separate, the effects of charge exchange are usually only noticed when at least one of the surfaces has a high resistance to electrical flow. This is because the charges that transfer are trapped there for a time long enough for their effects to be observed. These charges then remain on the object until they either bleed off to ground or are quickly neutralized by a discharge: e.g., the familiar phenomenon of a static "shock" is caused by the neutralization of charge built up in the body from contact with insulated surfaces.
Coulomb's law.
Coulomb's law states that:
'The magnitude of the electrostatic force of attraction or repulsion between two point charges is directly proportional to the product of the magnitudes of charges and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them.'
The force is along the straight line joining them. If the two charges have the same sign, the electrostatic force between them is repulsive; if they have different signs, the force between them is attractive.
If formula_1 is the distance (in meters) between two charges, then the force (in newtons) between two point charges formula_2 and formula_3 (in coulombs) is:
where ε0 is the vacuum permittivity, or permittivity of free space:
The SI units of ε0 are equivalently  A2s4 kg−1m−3 or C2N−1m−2 or F m−1. Coulomb's constant is:
A single proton has a charge of "e", and the electron has a charge of −"e", where,
These physical constants (ε0, k0, e) are currently defined so that ε0 and k0 are exactly defined, and "e" is a measured quantity.
Electric field.
The electric field, formula_8, in units of newtons per coulomb or volts per meter, is a vector field that can be defined everywhere, except at the location of point charges (where it diverges to infinity). It is defined as the electrostatic force formula_9 in newtons on a hypothetical small test charge at the point due to Coulomb's Law, divided by the magnitude of the charge formula_10 in coulombs
Electric field lines are useful for visualizing the electric field. Field lines begin on positive charge and terminate on negative charge. They are parallel to the direction of the electric field at each point, and the density of these field lines is a measure of the magnitude of the electric field at any given point.
Consider a collection of formula_12 particles of charge formula_13, located at points formula_14 (called "source points"), the electric field at formula_15 (called the "field point") is:
where formula_17 is the displacement vector from a "source point"
formula_14 to the "field point"
formula_15, and
formula_20
is a unit vector that indicates the direction of the field. For a single point charge at the origin, the magnitude of this electric field is formula_21 and points away from that charge if it is positive. The fact that the force (and hence the field) can be calculated by summing over all the contributions due to individual source particles is an example of the superposition principle. The electric field produced by a distribution of charges is given by the volume charge density formula_22 and can be obtained by converting this sum into a triple integral:
Gauss' law.
Gauss' law states that "the total electric flux through any closed surface in free space of any shape drawn in an electric field is proportional to the total electric charge enclosed by the surface." Mathematically, Gauss's law takes the form of an integral equation:
where formula_25 is a volume element. If the charge is distributed over a surface or along a line, replace formula_26 by formula_27 or formula_28. The divergence theorem allows Gauss's Law to be written in differential form:
where formula_30 is the divergence operator.
Poisson and Laplace equations.
The definition of electrostatic potential, combined with the differential form of Gauss's law (above), provides a relationship between the potential Φ and the charge density ρ:
This relationship is a form of Poisson's equation. In the absence of unpaired electric charge, the equation becomes Laplace's equation:
Electrostatic approximation.
The validity of the electrostatic approximation rests on the assumption that the electric field is irrotational:
From Faraday's law, this assumption implies the absence or near-absence of time-varying magnetic fields:
In other words, electrostatics does not require the absence of magnetic fields or electric currents. Rather, if magnetic fields or electric currents "do" exist, they must not change with time, or in the worst-case, they must change with time only "very slowly". In some problems, both electrostatics and magnetostatics may be required for accurate predictions, but the coupling between the two can still be ignored. Electrostatics and magnetostatics can both be seen as Galilean limits for electromagnetism.
Electrostatic potential.
As the electric field is irrotational, it is possible to express the electric field as the gradient of a scalar function,formula_35, called the electrostatic potential (also known as the voltage). An electric field, formula_36, points from regions of high electric potential to regions of low electric potential, expressed mathematically as
The gradient theorem can be used to establish that the electrostatic potential is the amount of work per unit charge required to move a charge from point formula_38 to point formula_39 with the following line integral:
From these equations, we see that the electric potential is constant in any region for which the electric field vanishes (such as occurs inside a conducting object).
Electrostatic energy.
A single test particle's potential energy, formula_41, can be calculated from a line integral of the work, formula_42. We integrate from a point at infinity, and assume a collection of formula_12 particles of charge formula_44, are already situated at the points formula_14. This potential energy (in Joules) is:
where formula_47 is the distance of each charge formula_13 from the test charge formula_2, which situated at the point formula_15, and formula_51 is the electric potential that would be at formula_15 if the test charge were not present. If only two charges are present, the potential energy is formula_53. The total electric potential energy due a collection of "N" charges is calculating by assembling these particles one at a time:
where the following sum from, "j = 1" to "N", excludes "i = j":
This electric potential, formula_56 is what would be measured at formula_14 if the charge formula_13 were missing. This formula obviously excludes the (infinite) energy that would be required to assemble each point charge from a disperse cloud of charge. The sum over charges can be converted into an integral over charge density using the prescription formula_59:
This second expression for electrostatic energy uses the fact that the electric field is the negative gradient of the electric potential, as well as vector calculus identities in a way that resembles integration by parts. These two integrals for electric field energy seem to indicate two mutually exclusive formulas for electrostatic energy density, namely formula_61 and formula_62; they yield equal values for the total electrostatic energy only if both are integrated over all space.
Electrostatic pressure.
On a conductor, a surface charge will experience a force in the presence of an electric field. This force is the average of the discontinuous electric field at the surface charge. This average in terms of the field just outside the surface amounts to:
This pressure tends to draw the conductor into the field, regardless of the sign of the surface charge.
Triboelectric series.
The triboelectric effect is a type of contact electrification in which certain materials become electrically charged when they are brought into contact with a different material and then separated. One of the materials acquires a positive charge, and the other acquires an equal negative charge. The polarity and strength of the charges produced differ according to the materials, surface roughness, temperature, strain, and other properties. Amber, for example, can acquire an electric charge by friction with a material like wool. This property, first recorded by Thales of Miletus, was the first electrical phenomenon investigated by humans. Other examples of materials that can acquire a significant charge when rubbed together include glass rubbed with silk, and hard rubber rubbed with fur.
Electrostatic generators.
The presence of surface charge imbalance means that the objects will exhibit attractive or repulsive forces. This surface charge imbalance, which yields static electricity, can be generated by touching two differing surfaces together and then separating them due to the phenomena of contact electrification and the triboelectric effect. Rubbing two nonconductive objects generates a great amount of static electricity. This is not just the result of friction; two nonconductive surfaces can become charged by just being placed one on top of the other. Since most surfaces have a rough texture, it takes longer to achieve charging through contact than through rubbing. Rubbing objects together increases amount of adhesive contact between the two surfaces. Usually insulators, e.g., substances that do not conduct electricity, are good at both generating, and holding, a surface charge. Some examples of these substances are rubber, plastic, glass, and pith. Conductive objects only rarely generate charge imbalance except, for example, when a metal surface is impacted by solid or liquid nonconductors. The charge that is transferred during contact electrification is stored on the surface of each object. Electrostatic generators, devices which produce very high voltage at very low current and used for classroom physics demonstrations, rely on this effect.
The presence of electric current does not detract from the electrostatic forces nor from the sparking, from the corona discharge, or other phenomena. Both phenomena can exist simultaneously in the same system.
Charge neutralization.
Natural electrostatic phenomena are most familiar as an occasional annoyance in seasons of low humidity, but can be destructive and harmful in some situations (e.g. electronics manufacturing). When working in direct contact with integrated circuit electronics (especially delicate MOSFETs). In the presence of flammable gas, care must be taken to avoid accumulating and suddenly discharging a static charge (see Electrostatic discharge).
Electrostatic induction.
Electrostatic induction, discovered by British scientist John Canton in 1753 and Swedish professor Johan Carl Wilcke in 1762 is a redistribution of charges in an object caused by the electric field of a nearby charge. For example, if a positively charged object is brought near an uncharged metal object, the mobile negatively-charged electrons in the metal will be attracted by the external charge, and move to the side of the metal facing it, creating a negative charge on the surface. When the electrons move out of an area they leave a positive charge due to the metal atoms' nuclei, so the side of the metal object facing away from the charge acquires a positive charge. These "induced charges" disappear when the external charge is removed. Induction is also responsible for the attraction of light objects, such as balloons, paper scraps and foam packing peanuts to static charges. The surface charges induced in conductive objects exactly cancel external electric fields inside the conductor, so there is no electric field inside a metal object. This is the basis for the electric field shielding action of a Faraday cage. Since the electric field is the gradient of the voltage, electrostatic induction is also responsible for making the electric potential (voltage) constant throughout a conductive object.
Static electricity.
Before the year 1832, when Michael Faraday published the results of his experiment on the identity of electricities, physicists thought "static electricity" was somehow different from other electrical charges. Michael Faraday proved that the electricity induced from the magnet, voltaic electricity produced by a battery, and static electricity are all the same.
Static electricity is usually caused when certain materials are rubbed against each other, like wool on plastic or the soles of shoes on carpet. The process causes electrons to be pulled from the surface of one material and relocated on the surface of the other material.
A static shock occurs when the surface of the second material, negatively charged with electrons, touches a positively charged conductor, or vice versa.
Static electricity is commonly used in xerography, air filters, and some coating processes used in manufacturing.
Static electricity is a build-up of electric charges on two objects that have become separated from each other. Small electrical components can be damaged by static electricity, and component manufacturers use a number of antistatic devices to avoid this.
Static electricity and chemical industry.
When different materials are brought together and then separated, an accumulation of electric charge can occur which leaves one material positively charged while the other becomes negatively charged. The mild shock that you receive when touching a grounded object after walking on carpet is an example of excess electrical charge accumulating in your body from frictional charging between your shoes and the carpet. The resulting charge build-up upon your body can generate a strong electrical discharge. Although experimenting with static electricity may be fun, similar sparks create severe hazards in those industries dealing with flammable substances, where a small electrical spark may ignite explosive mixtures with devastating consequences.
A similar charging mechanism can occur within low conductivity fluids flowing through pipelines—a process called flow electrification. Fluids which have low electrical conductivity (below 50 picosiemens per meter), are called accumulators. Fluids having conductivities above 50 pS/m are called non-accumulators. In non-accumulators, charges recombine as fast as they are separated and hence electrostatic charge generation is not significant. In the petrochemical industry, 50 pS/m is the recommended minimum value of electrical conductivity for adequate removal of charge from a fluid.
An important concept for insulating fluids is the static relaxation time. This is similar to the time constant (tau) within an RC circuit. For insulating materials, it is the ratio of the static dielectric constant divided by the electrical conductivity of the material. For hydrocarbon fluids, this is sometimes approximated by dividing the number 18 by the electrical conductivity of the fluid. Thus a fluid that has an electrical conductivity of 1 pS/cm (100 pS/m) will have an estimated relaxation time of about 18 seconds. The excess charge within a fluid will be almost completely dissipated after 4 to 5 times the relaxation time, or 90 seconds for the fluid in the above example.
Charge generation increases at higher fluid velocities and larger pipe diameters, becoming quite significant in pipes or larger. Static charge generation in these systems is best controlled by limiting fluid velocity. The British standard BS PD CLC/TR 50404:2003 (formerly BS-5958-Part 2) Code of Practice for Control of Undesirable Static Electricity prescribes velocity limits. Because of its large impact on dielectric constant, the recommended velocity for hydrocarbon fluids containing water should be limited to 1 m/s.
Bonding and earthing are the usual ways by which charge buildup can be prevented. For fluids with electrical conductivity below 10 pS/m, bonding and earthing are not adequate for charge dissipation, and anti-static additives may be required.
Electrostatic induction in commercial applications.
Electrostatic induction was used in the past to build high-voltage generators known as influence machines.
The main component that emerged in these times is the capacitor.
Electrostatic induction is also used for electro-mechanic precipitation or projection. In such technologies, charged particles of small sizes are collected or deposited intentionally on surfaces. Applications range from electrostatic precipitator to electrostatic coating and inkjet printing.
Recently a new wireless power transfer technology has been based on electrostatic induction between oscillating distant dipoles.


Willard Rockwell

Willard Frederick Rockwell, Sr. (March 31, 1888 – October 16, 1978) was an American engineer businessman who helped shape and name what eventually became the Rockwell International company. He created and directed a number of major corporations with a wide range of products for the automobile and aviation and related industries. By the 1970s he was a leading figure in American defense industries. "If it moves, we probably made something on it," was his boast.
Early career.
Born in Boston, Massachusetts, where his father was a contractor, Willard attended public schools before attending the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for three years. In 1909-1915 he was the chief engineer for several small companies. In 1915, he moved to Cleveland, Ohio, becoming manager of a company making axles for automobiles and trucks. During World War I, he was a civilian specialist in the Motor Transport Division of the Army Quartermaster Corps. In 1919, he started his first company in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. He sold it to the Timken-Detroit Axle Company in 1928, staying on as its manager, and also a director of Timken. He became president of Timken in 1933-40, and chairman of the board 1940-53. During World War II, it produced 80 percent of the axles for large army trucks, and 75 percent of the armor plate for tanks.
Simultaneously he was president of several smaller companies. By 1947, his combined enterprises had 5,000 employees in 15 plants, with sales of over $62 million. He merged them into Timken in 1953 to form the Rockwell Spring and Axle Company, of which he was chairman of the board. In 1958, his conglomerate was renamed the Rockwell Standard Corporation, and became one of the largest suppliers of parts to the automobile and truck industry. It produced a wide variety of automobile parts, such as transmissions, gears, springs, bumpers, and especially axles for trucks, buses, streetcars, tractors and other motorized vehicles. Rockwell was always an engineer at heart; He received several patents, such as one in 1926 for an "improved double reduction and reversing differential axle construction especially useful for bus axles."
Rockwell became interested in aviation after the war, and produced a wide variety of engine parts, as well as a small executive aircraft. Expanding beyond transportation, his companies made meters for the gas and water industries. He also made power tools, valves, taxi meters, and parking meters. For example, the Pittsburgh Equitable Meter and Manufacturing Company was a conglomerate, comprising many companies that manufactured items ranging from water meters to ball bearings.
The company became a major player in the space race of the 1960s. In 1967 Rockwell-Standard merged with North American Aviation, becoming North American-Rockwell, and Rockwell stepped down as chairman. It was renamed Rockwell International in 1973 and became the prime contractor on the space shuttle. Sales reached $6.3 billion in 1979, ranking it number 11 in defense contracts, in addition to its major presence in commercial aircraft, electronics, automotive components.
Numerous major corporations brought Rockwell onto their boards, including banks, insurance companies, and railroads.
Family.
Rockwell came from a Yankee family and married Clara Thayer, a descendant of John Alden who arrived aboard the "Mayflower" in 1620. The couple had five children, Kay, Janet, Willard Jr., Eleanor, and Betty. He was a Baptist and Republican. He brought his son Willard Frederick "Al" Rockwell, Jr. (1914-1992) into the network of family businesses in 1947. Rockwell Jr. became a senior executive for several of them before taking over in the mid-1960s, leading work on the NASA Apollo and Space Shuttle programs until his 1989 retirement. Willard Sr. also brought his brother Walter F. Rockwell (1899-1973) into the family business, making him president of Timken-Detroit Axle 1933 to 1953, as well as other roles.


Comparison of desktop application launchers

An application launcher is a computer program that helps a user to locate and start other computer programs. An application launcher provides shortcuts to computer programs, and stores the shortcuts in one place so they are easier to find.
In the comparison of desktop application launchers that follows, each section is devoted to a different desktop environment.
Windows.
These desktop application launchers work with Microsoft Windows operating systems only.
Linux.
These desktop application launchers work with Linux operating systems only.
macOS.
These desktop application launchers work with the Apple macOS operating system only.
Cross platform.
These desktop application launchers work with two or more different operating systems.


Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace

The Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace (SPEEA), IFPTE Local 2001 is a professional labor union representing more than 24,000 engineers, technical workers and other professionals in the aerospace industry. SPEEA represents employees at The Boeing Company, Spirit AeroSystems, BAE Systems and Triumph Composite Systems. Members work in Washington, Kansas, Oregon, Utah, Texas, California, and Florida.
SPEEA is governed by an elected Executive Board and Council, but daily operations are handled by a professional staff and Executive Director. Union headquarters are in Seattle, with branch offices and union halls in Everett, Washington and Wichita, Kansas.
History.
According to Richard Henning, SPEEA's co-founder and engineer, SPEEA's earliest beginnings were meetings at the Seattle YMCA in 1945 to frame its first constitution.
SPEEA was formed in 1946 by a group of Boeing engineers in Seattle, Washington and is an affiliated local union of the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers (IFPTE). On behalf of its members, SPEEA negotiates contracts with employers; it also provides assistance with resolving workplace and benefit issues. SPEEA originally stood for Seattle Professional Engineering Employees Association.
In an interview in February 2015, the centenarian co-founder Richard Henning, who retired in 1979 as a Boeing Executive remarked,
“"It’s a smart idea to have an organization speak for an individual instead of one on one. In the old days, if you sat down to negotiate with the chief of engineering it was pretty difficult to express ideas. Whereas in a union, there was discussion to bring out points and that happened on a daily basis."”


Canon FD lens mount

The Canon FD lens mount is a physical standard for connecting a photographic lens to a 35mm single-lens reflex camera body. The standard was developed by Canon of Japan and was introduced in March 1971 with the Canon F-1 camera. It served as the Canon SLR interchangeable lens mounting system until the 1987 introduction of the Canon EOS series cameras, which use the newer EF lens mount. The FD mount lingered through the release of the 1990 Canon T60, the last camera introduced in the FD system, and the end of the Canon New F-1 product cycle in 1992.
The FD mount was based upon and replaced Canon's earlier FL mount (which in turn had replaced the R mount); FD-mount cameras can use FL lenses in stop-down metering mode. Though never officially explained by Canon, others have attempted to assign a meaning to the "FD" designation. One such attempt states that the "FD" notation stands for "Focal-plane shutter with Dual linkage for diaphragm control"; in actuality, there were two linkages and two signals: the automatic aperture lever, aperture signal lever, full aperture signal pin, and automatic exposure lock pin. This is twice the previous lens series, which used the "FL" designation, said to mean "Focal-plane shutter, Linked mount."
Over the 21-plus years of production, Canon introduced 134 different FD lenses ranging from 7.5mm through 1,200mm in seventeen different fixed focal lengths and nineteen different zoom ranges, one of the most, if not the most, extensive manual focus lens lines ever produced.
The Canon FD system enjoyed huge popularity in the 1970s and 1980s, when it established and grew a market share with professional photographers as well as having equipped over a million consumer users. Indeed, sales of the Canon AE-1 camera alone exceeded one million.
Canon obsoleted the FD mount by its decision to create the all-electronic EF mount. Thus, the FD mount system, with limited provision for auto-focus, is now commercially obsolete, and Canon FD cameras and lenses are available for low prices on the second-hand market. This makes the system very attractive to 35mm film photographers who demand the highest optical quality, while not needing auto focus capability.
FD lenses can be used on many mirrorless interchangeable-lens cameras with a suitable adapter. They are a popular alternative to modern lenses among some users, though they lack autofocus.
Background.
The FD lens mount is a breech-lock mount, which is a variation of the common triple-flanged bayonet attachment. The advantage of the breech-lock over the bayonet is that neither the contact surfaces between the body and lens, nor the signalling mechanisms, rotate against each other when the lens is mounted. This prevents any mechanical wear, which could conceivably reduce the very precise lens-to-film distance or introduce communication errors between lens and body.
Canon's first iteration of the FD breech-lock, extended forward from the earlier R- and FL-series lenses, used a rotating mounting ring at the rear of the lens; the lens body itself did not rotate for mounting. Its minor disadvantage was a somewhat slower lens change than a bayonet.
There are three different versions of breech ring FD lenses:
Second-generation FD lenses, first marketed in 1981 as "New FD", are mounted like bayonet-mount lenses in that the photographer twists the entire lens body to mount and dismount, though the actual mating surfaces still remain fixed. This retained the advantages of the breech-lock mount while enabling the convenience of a bayonet. The letters SC or SSC, to indicate the lens coating, were no longer put on the lenses. Canon documents stated that All new FD lenses except for the new FD 50mm F1.8 had SSC coatings. Canon later chose a bayonet-style mount for its EOS system's EF lenses, where there is no precision mechanical coupling.
Like its FL predecessor, the FD mount system allowed automatic diaphragm function, but in addition, a new signal pin supported full-aperture metering. A second signal pin for the "auto" setting of the aperture dial, plus a linkage to allow the camera to set the degree of diaphragm opening, enabled integral auto-exposure. The first camera to use this was the 1971 Canon F-1, when equipped with the Servo EE Finder. Later, the Canon EF of 1973 had automatic exposure built-in, as did the very popular Canon A-series cameras (save the AT-1) beginning in 1976.
Thus, starting with the first FD lenses produced in late 1970, all FD lenses had the capability of supporting full-aperture metering and multiple Automatic Exposure (AE) modes using both shutter-preferred and aperture-preferred modes. Even Programmed AE was possible with no modifications to the lens mount, though at the time of its introduction Canon did not have an AE camera body in the FD line. This was a design triumph for Canon that no other camera or lens maker was able to equal in 1970. Every other camera manufacturer had to make one or more alterations to its lens mount to enable full aperture metering, and later AE and or Programmed AE operation.
The FD mount has no support for either electrical or mechanical lens-body communication required for autofocus, which was a primary reason for its retirement. (The three AC series lenses, extended from the FD lens mount, described below, are an exception). While Canon could have adapted its mount to support auto-focus, as did other manufacturers, the company instead chose to make a clean break with the past and design a completely new interface with support for electrical signaling and control.
Lens coatings, design variants.
The earliest breech-lock Canon FD lenses (1970-1973) are generally recognizable by a chrome (silver) filter ring at the front (this ring includes its own bayonet used to mount an appropriate lens hood). Nicknamed 'chrome nose' lenses, these used two new proprietary lens coatings, designated "S.C." (Spectra Coating) and "S.S.C." (Super Spectra Coating), but neither coating was signified on the front of the lens. These were both multi-coatings, but indicated two quality grades. In the 'chrome nose' series, only the large-aperture 55mm f/1.2,and 55mm F1.2 AL (Aspherical) and the 7.5mm Fish-Eye lenses used S.S.C. coating. This first series of FD lenses shared other characteristics that would later change; the breech-lock ring can be rotated freely without mounting it on a camera body, and the aperture ring had a green "o" at the end of the scale to indicate automatic aperture operation, which at the time was only possible with an F-1 body that had the Servo EE Finder attached. The aperture ring could be rotated freely on and off of "o", although the small AE switch pin in the back of the lens (which came out when the aperture ring was rotated to "o" prevented one from doing this unless the body has the appropriate small hole in the proper location. There are chrome nose first generation FD lenses without chrome front barrels, Several wide angle lenses and some telephoto lenses have black barrels, but their date code, lack of an aperture lock button and freely rotating breech ring place them into the first version FD lens group.
The second series of breech-lock FD lenses (1973-1976), which discontinued the chrome barrel front, is engraved "S.C." in white or "S.S.C." in red on the front of the lens. The S.S.C. coating was extended to most lenses in this series. The basic S.C. coating was, for the most part, limited to the least expensive lenses. These 2nd breech ring generation FD lenses still had a green "o", but now there was a chrome lock button on the aperture ring that had to be depressed to put the lens on or take the lens off of "o". One still could not put the lens on "o" unless the camera body had the AE switch pin hole. And the lens could not be mounted on a non-EE / AE body if the lens was set on "o". The breech ring now featured a lock which prevented it from rotating unless a rear cap was put on or the lens was mounted to a body. Further, the breech ring rotated slightly when the lens was mounted to aid in getting the lens securely mounted.
The third variant, made from 1976 to the end of production of breech ring FD lenses (around 1980) changed the green "o" to a green "A" and the chrome aperture ring lock button was changed from chrome to black. The breech ring was still locked unless mounted and it still had the spring loaded twist to make it easier to mount the lens. The third version FD 50mm F1.8 lens also received a plastic front barrel to reduce size and weight. This corresponded with the introduction of the Canon A-series cameras which were smaller and lighter than the older, larger and heavier "F-series" bodies.
In 1978, with the introduction of the "New FD" series (nicknamed 'FDn'), the coating type was no longer specified on the lens front. All of these lenses received S.S.C. coating, with the sole exception of the 50mm lens.
The original breech-lock FD lenses and the "New FD" lenses are completely functionally interchangeable, and may each be used on any FD camera body. A minor operational difference between New FD and earlier lenses occurs only when using a Canon New F-1 body with the AE Finder FN in aperture preferred AE mode. The New FD lenses' aperture rings were placed closer to the rear of the lens so that the aperture value is visible in the new F-1's viewfinder, via an optical prism. Earlier lenses' aperture scales do not align properly with the prism, and are therefore not visible.
Aspherical, Fluorite or 'L' lenses.
An enhanced range of FD lenses was available to photographers who required the highest optical and mechanical performance. In addition to more robust mechanical construction, these lenses used a variety of special technologies, including ground aspherical surfaces, calcium fluorite optical elements, and ultra-low-dispersion glass. Canon used these means to achieve outstanding optical performance at the extremes of lens design: wide apertures and extreme focal lengths. Aspherical surfaces improved performance of wide-angle and standard lenses at very wide apertures. Ultra-low dispersion and fluorite elements virtually eliminated chromatic aberration at long focal lengths.
The earlier versions of these lenses carried "AL", "Aspherical", or "Fluorite" indications on the front of the lens. The post-1979 'New FD' versions acknowledged all the exotic technologies under the single designation "L" (commonly believed to indicate 'luxury' or 'asphericaL'). Canon has continued the "L" designation, and the famous red ring around the lens front, in the current EF autofocus lenses for EOS cameras, where the symbol now officially stands for "Luxury."
Macro lenses.
The FD series included a number of zoom lenses with close-focusing mechanisms, targeted at amateur photographers. The series also included three true macro lenses at 50mm, 100mm, and 200mm. These offered exceptionally close focusing and were corrected for flatness of field at close shooting distances. The 50mm and 100mm were marketed with extension tubes that allowed life-size reproduction. The 200mm can reach life size without additional extension.
Special-purpose lenses.
Canon offered seven specialty lenses for the FD mount. The 35mm 2.8 Tilt-Shift lens is a perspective control lens. It may be tilted ±8 degrees for depth of field control, or shifted 11mm for perspective control. Though it uses the breech-lock mount, it is not literally an FD lens since its diaphragm is operated manually and it must be used with stop-down metering.
The 85mm 2.8 Soft Focus lens is designed for portraiture. The photographer may introduce three levels of spherical aberration via a push-pull ring. Since aperture also affects the magnitude of the soft-focus effect, a wide range of results are possible. The lens may also be used as a standard short telephoto. It offers all FD features.
The Reflex 500mm 8 lens is a supertelephoto mirror lens of high optical quality which shares the unique characteristics of all mirror lenses with a central obstruction. Since its aperture is fixed at 8, it lacks FD signals and controls. It must be used in manual or stopped-down metering mode.
Two other specialty lenses are the fisheyes. Two versions were produced. The 7.5mm 5.6 is a circular fisheye, rendering a 180 degree field of view in a 23mm image circle. It requires manual operation and stopped-down metering. The 15mm 2.8 is a full-frame fisheye, rendering a 180 degree field of view across the diagonal of the 35mm frame with the considerable barrel distortion of a fisheye lens. It includes all FD features and may be used with automatic exposure. Both lenses include internal filters.
The remaining specialty lenses are the 20mm 3.5 and 35mm 2.8 Macrophoto lenses. Similar to microscope objectives, they provide magnifications of 4X-10X and 2X-6X respectively when mounted on the FD Auto Bellows. They can only be used with a bellows, via an FD adapter; while the adapter can mechanically mount them directly to a camera, they cannot function optically. They are not properly FD lenses, but are listed here because they are part of the whole system.
FD autofocusing lenses.
Before the FD mount was obsoleted by the EOS system, Canon built four autofocus lenses. Of these, only the FD 35-70mm f/4 AF was capable of autofocus on all FD cameras. The others, known as AC lenses, offered autofocus only on the T80 camera.
The FD 35-70mm f/4 AF contained an entirely independent autofocus system and was among the world's first autofocus zoom lenses (the Pentax ME F was the first ). The autofocus system was activated by a button on the side of the lens, and involved no communication with the camera body. It was reasonably accurate with still subjects, but was too slow to be a practical solution for moving subjects such as sports.
Further development produced the AC derivative of the FD mount. Three AC lenses were manufactured, the AC 50mm 1.8, AC 35-70mm 3.5-4.5, and AC 75-200mm 4.5. All were released in April, 1985 alongside the Canon T80 camera, which was the only camera ever manufactured to take advantage of the AC lenses' AF capabilities. The lenses communicated with the T80 via a modified FD mount with added electrical contacts. They lacked an aperture ring, and were therefore usable only in automatic-exposure modes. They were otherwise identical to the FD mount and could be manually focused on those FD-mount cameras that could control the aperture. The AC line proved to be a dead-end development in light of the EF series development, and Canon would abandon the capability in the three remaining FD-mount cameras it produced, the New F-1, T90, and T60.
Using FD lenses on other mounts.
The 42mm flange focal distance of the FD mount is shorter than that of most other lens mounts. Therefore, some lenses from other period cameras with longer flange focal distance can be mounted on Canon FD-mount cameras with appropriate adapters and still retain infinity focus. FD lenses can be adapted to other cameras with longer flange focal distances, though the lenses cannot focus to infinity unless the adapter contains an optical correction element which may compromise image quality, as it is not part of the original FD lens optical design.
Following the introduction of the EOS camera line, whose EF lens mount has a 44 mm flange focal distance, Canon briefly marketed an adapter which enabled certain FD telephoto lenses to be used on EOS bodies. The adapter contained high-quality corrective optics and functioned as a 1.26x tele-converter; it could not be used on lenses shorter than 200mm in focal length, nor any lens that interfered with its protruding optics. The adapter was produced in limited numbers, with the intent of easing the initial cost of conversion for professional users who owned expensive FD telephoto lenses. Originally priced at $250, these adapters are now scarce and highly valued, selling for around $1,000 on the second-hand market. Other inexpensive aftermarket FD to EOS adapters are available and can be used at the cost of severely reduced image quality, particularly at large apertures.
Mechanically skilled photographers and technicians have successfully retrofitted FD lenses with alternative mounts, including the Arri PL mount and Canon EF mount.
FD lenses can be mounted on Canon rangefinder cameras or other Leica screw mount cameras using the Canon Lens Mount Adapter B, but rangefinder-coupled focusing is lost.
FD lenses have been regularly used with the Micro Four Thirds system since its introduction in 2008. It has a flange focal distance of only 20mm and a 2× crop factor, halving the field of view compared to the original 24x36mm film frame.
As of 2012, with the introduction of the Canon EOS M mirrorless camera, almost all FD or FL lenses can be successfully adapted with infinity focus available without the need for a compensating lens, thus not compromising resolution, contrast and distortion performance. The EOS-M has an 18 megapixel APS-C sensor, offering image quality and resolution equivalent to other Canon EF-S APS-C sized sensors, retaining their 1.6× crop factor. The FD/FL lens must be manually focused and metering is done with aperture priority.
FD lenses can also be mounted to current mirrorless digital cameras with short flange focal distance, using simple mechanical adapters without optical correction. FD lenses, especially wide and ultra-wide f/2.8, f/2 and f/1.4 variants, have proven popular options for videography for these mirrorless formats.
Another popular option is the Sony NEX/Sony ILCE system of mirrorless interchangeable lens cameras with Sony E-mount. The E-mount has a flange distance of 18mm and a 1.5× crop factor with APS-C sensor cameras and a 1× crop factor with full frame sensor cameras, f. i. the Sony α7 series introduced in late 2013.
List of Canon-made FD-mount camera bodies and lenses.
FD lenses.
The FD series includes lenses of all standard focal lengths ranging from 7.5mm to 800mm. At least two different maximum apertures were offered at each focal length from 24mm to 500mm.
The original generation of FD lenses featured a silver colored locking ring at the base. Only the locking ring turns to lock the lens to the camera body; the lens body remains stationary. The later "New FD" lenses have a black mount which includes a lens release button.
Note that some lenses listed below were marketed in only one generation. Lenses of identical focal lengths and maximum apertures that spanned both generations, in addition to their altered mounts, were typically smaller and lighter in the "New FD" generation, and usually used smaller diameter filters.
Supertelephoto.
Special limited production:


OzIris

OzIris is a steel inverted roller coaster designed by Bolliger & Mabillard operating at Parc Astérix in France since 7 April 2012. It is only one of two Bolliger & Mabillard inverted coasters in France, the other being The Monster at Walygator Parc. It is named after the Character Iris from the French comic Asterix.
Ride.
OzIris includes five inversions after the lift hill that stands in height. After the initial drop, a dive loop follows going upside-down (OzIris is the first inverted roller coaster to feature a dive loop). The track then manoeuvres an overbanked to the right, banked at about 110°, followed by a vertical loop of . The track then passes into a trench and into an Immelmann of , and then a second overbanked turn . The coaster's track then descends to an deep underwater tunnel. A corkscrew comes after the tunnel, then an upward turn to the next inversion a zero-G roll, after this inversion the track follows a twisted course until reaching the main brake zone, and then back into the station.
Theme.
"OzIris" is part of a 2012 new egyptian themed zone inspired by one of the Asterix comic book series "Asterix and Cleopatra" (as well as the movie "The Twelve Tasks of Asterix") which expanded the park by ten percent. With exotic plants, palm trees, rocks, lake, Egyptian monuments and a huge temple, the new area combines the characteristic of the Asterix cartoon with this custom design roller coaster. With the new theme for the park, the Zierer roller coaster "Périférix" was rethemed to "SOS Numérobis" to fit the theme.
Storyline.
After walking outside below security nests, riders step into Iris' temple. In there, riders get to learn about different experiences Iris made with hypnotising, and they also get hypnotised. The coaster consists in Iris' ultimate experience: making people fly. (Hence the inverted coaster) Before the train is dispatched, riders can hear Iris' voice saying his hypnotising catchphrase "By Osiris and by Apis, you are now birds! Yes, birds!"
Awards.
OzIris was ranked in the "Amusement Today"'s Golden Ticket Awards for best new ride of 2012 with 6% of the vote, to come in fifth place.


Benimaru Nikaido


Apple headphones

Apple Inc. has produced and sold headphones since 2001, available for standalone purchase and bundled with iPhone (until 2020) and iPod products. Apple's current product line consists of EarPods, wired earbuds available with a 3.5mm headphone or Lightning connector, AirPods and AirPods Pro, wireless Bluetooth earbuds, and AirPods Max, wireless Bluetooth over-ear headphones.
Bundled Headphones.
Classic round ear buds.
Apple's original earbuds shipped with the original iPod, released on October 23, 2001. They were never given a formal name and were referred to variously as "iPod headphones" and "the iPod's earbud-style headphones". They were bundled with two pairs of foam covers. The second generation added a plastic slider to allow the user to limit the gap between the wires. The third generation were redesigned with a slightly longer strain relief, a slightly smaller speaker grill, and the left/right marking being moved from the outside to the inside.
iPhone Stereo Headset.
The iPhone Stereo Headset was introduced in 2007 and was bundled with the original iPhone and iPhone 3G, and featured a control capsule in-line with the right earbud's wire with a microphone and a single button, actuated by squeezing the unit, which can be programmed to control calls, presentations, music and video playback, launch Siri, or take pictures with the Camera application. There have been many reports of moisture problems with the remote/mic.
Apple Earphones with Remote and Mic.
Apple Earphones with Remote and Mic were introduced in 2009 and were bundled with the iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, the third-generation iPod touch, and sold independently. They expanded on the iPhone Stereo Headset by adding two other buttons dedicated to volume control. A variant of without a microphone shipped only with the third-generation iPod shuffle.
EarPods.
EarPods were introduced on September 12, 2012 and feature a redesign with no silicone tips, less visible metal, and a plastic outer shell. They first shipped with the iPhone 5 and feature a remote control and microphone. They also shipped with the iPod Touch (5th generation) and iPod Nano (7th generation) without a remote and microphone. EarPods are also individually sold with a carrying case, while the version bundled with the iPod Touch (5th generation), iPod Touch (6th generation) and iPod Nano (7th generation) only have basic biodegradable packaging, due to their lack of a remote and mic. A microphone icon was added on the previously unmarked back side of the control capsule on EarPods with a microphone. They are compatible with iPhones from the iPhone 3GS to iPhone 6S, the iPod Touch (2nd generation) and onwards, and all models of the iPad, iPad mini, and iPad Pro, except the third and fourth generation iPad Pro. They require iOS 2.2 and onwards for iOS devices but are not compatible with the original iPhone, iPhone 3G, or iPod Touch (1st generation) due to sound problems. They are also compatible with most Android devices and computers.
A second iteration, "EarPods with Lightning Connector", were introduced in 2016 along with the iPhone 7 and replaced the 3.5mm headphone jack with a Lighting connector. They work with all devices that have a Lightning port and support iOS 10 or later. The previous EarPods were rebranded as "EarPods with 3.5mm Headphone Plug". Since early 2017, both products now lack a carrying case, instead being sold in recyclable cardboard packaging.
Following the release of the iPhone 12 series in 2020, EarPods are no longer bundled with iPhones in most countries except where required by law.
Lightning to 3.5mm Dongle.
iPhone models from the iPhone 7 to the iPhone X also shipped with a Lightning-to-3.5mm headphone jack adapter, enabling customers to connect 3.5mm headphones to a Lightning port. Thanks to an iOS update (iOS 10.3), it is backwards compatible, meaning it can be used with any previous device with a Lightning port (from iPhone 5 onwards). It is no longer included as of the iPhone XS and iPhone XR, and remains available for purchase from Apple and third-party retailers.
Standalone purchase headphones.
iPod In-Ear Headphones.
iPod In-Ear Headphones were introduced in January 2004 as premium headphones compared to those bundled with iPods, and were available for $39. They included three different sized plastic caps, and Apple claimed improved sound quality and bass response. They were discontinued in 2008.
iPhone Bluetooth Headset.
The iPhone Bluetooth Headset was introduced in 2007, priced at $129 and later reduced to $99, and discontinued in 2009. It was designed for phone calls only and could not be used for listening to music. It was bundled with a "Travel Cable" that charged it and a 30-pin iPhone simultaneously, and a docking station called the iPhone Dual Dock that could charge it and an original iPhone was also available.
Apple In-Ear Headphones.
Apple In-Ear Headphones were introduced on September 9, 2008, intended as a premium option compared to Apple's bundled earbuds. Like the regular earbuds they have a remote control and microphone built-in. They add silicone ear tips and dual drivers advertised as "engineered for superior acoustic accuracy, balance, and clarity". The remote and protective case was redesigned on September 12, 2012, with the remote matching that of EarPods. Apple has since removed them from their online store.
AirPods.
AirPods were announced alongside the iPhone 7 and were released on December 13, 2016. They are wireless earbud-style headphones with microphones, dual accelerometers, IR sensors used to pause music if they are not in the user's ears, and motion touch sensors that are used to activate controls. They are advertised as having a battery life of five hours, and come with a charging case that gives them a total of 24 hours of battery life. The original case is charged by Lightning, and in 2019 a second case was introduced with Qi charging. AirPods are compatible with iPhones, iPads, Apple Watches, Macs, the 6th generation iPod Touch, and the 7th generation iPod Nano, but automatic pairing with an iCloud account requires macOS Sierra, iOS 10, and watchOS. They are also compatible with devices on other platforms that support Bluetooth, but it limits the AirPods' functionality.
AirPods Pro.
AirPods Pro were released on October 30, 2019 as a premium option compared to AirPods. They use the same H1 chip found in second generation AirPods, and boast a slimmer design, active noise cancellation, adaptive EQ, IPX4 water resistance, a new charging case with Qi standard, and include silicone tips.
AirPods Max.
AirPods Max, released on December 15, 2020, are wireless Bluetooth over-ear headphones. They feature an H1 chip, active noise cancellation and transparency mode, a Digital Crown and on-head detection.
In popular culture.
Apple's white earbuds are prominently featured in the majority of their distinctive "silhouette style" iPod advertisements. Most often as a dancing black figure in [silhouette] with a starkly contrasted white earbuds and cord while holding a white iPod. The background is usually another bright colour so the iPod and headphones clearly stand out compared to the rest of the image.


List of forms of electricity named after scientists

This is a list of forms of electricity named after scientists. The terms in this list are mostly archaic usages but are found in many 19th and early 20th-century publications.


SkyView Rotterdam

SkyView Rotterdam was a 45-meter-tall Ferris wheel in the center of Rotterdam. It opened to the public on September 4, 2018, and was decommissioned in July 2019. Some residents of Markthal protested its construction citing privacy concerns. It was expected to stay for five years, but operated for less than one year. It may relocate to Spain.
Design.
The Netherlands-based Dutch Wheels designed and constructed the wheel. It was a model R50SP-36. It had 36 climate controlled gondolas that could accommodate 6 people each. A VIP gondola featured a glass floor. A dining car was reservable for dinner or high tea, which is why it was also known as the Dinner Wheel.


Bare Knuckle Pickups

Bare Knuckle Pickups (Bare Knuckle), founded in 2003 by former Elkie Brooks and Iced Earth guitarist Tim Mills, is a privately owned business based in the South West of England, UK, specialising in hand-wound electric guitar pickups.
The pickups are wound and made entirely by hand from high quality parts which are made in-house, and come with a lifetime warranty.
Pickups.
Bare Knuckle produce a complete range of humbuckers, single coils and bass pickups pickups ranging from original vintage models through to contemporary pickups such as the award winning 'The Mule' humbucker, 'Nailbomb' humbucker, 'Mississippi Queen' humbucker-size P90 and 'Apache' single coils.
Artists.
Artists such as
Misha Mansoor of Periphery (band) - Signature Pickups - Juggernaut & Ragnarok
Steve Stevens of Billy Idol - Signature Pickups - Rebel Yell
Josh Smith of Northlane- Signature Pickups - Impulse
Rabea Massaad of Toska and Dorje (band) - Signature Pickups - Silo
Propagandhi, Johnny Marr, Matt Bellamy, Gary Moore, Claudio Sanchez, Jon Schaffer, Gabe Mangold, Rabea Massaad, Misha Mansoor, and Steve Stevens all use or have used BKPs in their guitars, the latter three having their own signature models (Mansoor with the "Juggernaut" and "Ragnarok" models; Stevens with the "Rebel Yell" model). Bare Knuckle Pickups are also fitted by guitar manufacturers, such as Fender Custom Shop, Ibanez Guitars, Manson Guitars, Blackmachine, and Peerless guitars.


NASBA (molecular biology)

Nucleic acid sequence-based amplification, commonly referred to as NASBA, is a method in molecular biology which is used to produce multiple copies of single stranded RNA. NASBA is a two-step process that takes RNA and anneals specially designed primers, then utilizes an enzyme cocktail to amplify it.
Background.
Nucleic acid amplification is a technique used to produce several copies of a specific segment of RNA/DNA. Amplified RNA and DNA can be used for a variety of applications, such as genotyping, sequencing, and detection of bacteria or viruses. There are two different types of amplification, non-isothermal and isothermal. Non-isothermal amplification produces multiple copies of RNA/DNA through reiterative cycling between different temperatures. Isothermal amplification produces multiple copies of RNA/DNA at a constant reaction temperature. NASBA takes single stranded RNA, anneals primers to it at 65℃, and then amplifies it at 41℃ to produce multiple copies of single stranded RNA. In order for successful amplification to occur, an enzyme cocktail containing, Avian Myeloblastosis Reverse Transcriptase (AMV-RT), RNase H, and RNA polymerase is used. AMV-RT synthesizes a complimentary DNA strand (cDNA) from the RNA template once the primer is annealed. RNase H then degrades the RNA template and the other primer binds to the cDNA to form double stranded DNA, which RNA polymerase uses to synthesize copies of RNA. One key aspect of NASBA is that the starting material and end product is always single stranded RNA. That being said, it can be used to amplify DNA, but the DNA must be translated into RNA in order for successful amplification to occur.
Loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) is another isothermal amplification technique.
History.
NASBA was developed by J Compton in 1991, who defined it as "a primer-dependent technology that can be used for the continuous amplification of nucleic acids in a single mixture at one temperature". Immediately after the invention of NASBA it was used for the rapid diagnosis and quantification of HIV-1 in patient sera. Although RNA can also be amplified by PCR using a reverse transcriptase (in order to synthesize a complementary DNA strand as a template), NASBA's main advantage is that it works under isothermal conditions – usually at a constant temperature of 41 °C or two different temperatures, depending on the primers and enzymes used. Even when two different temperatures are applied, it is still considered isothermal, because it does not cycle back and forth between those temperatures. NASBA can be used in medical diagnostics as an alternative to PCR that is quicker and more sensitive in some circumstances.
Procedure.
Explained briefly, NASBA works as follows:
Clinical Applications.
The NASBA technique has been used to develop rapid diagnostic tests for several pathogenic viruses with single-stranded RNA genomes, e.g. influenza A, zika virus, foot-and-mouth disease virus, severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS)-associated coronavirus, human bocavirus (HBoV) and also parasites like "Trypanosoma brucei".


Organ console

The pipe organ is played from an area called the console or keydesk, which holds the manuals (keyboards), pedals, and stop controls. In electric-action organs, the console is often movable. This allows for greater flexibility in placement of the console for various activities. Some very large organs, such as the van den Heuvel organ at the Church of St. Eustache in Paris, have more than one console, enabling the organ to be played from several locations depending on the nature of the performance.
Controls at the console called stops select which ranks of pipes are used. These controls are generally either draw knobs (or stop knobs), which engage the stops when pulled out from the console; stop tablets (or tilting tablets) which are hinged at their far end; or rocker-tablets, which rock up and down on a central axle.
Different combinations of stops change the timbre of the instrument considerably. The selection of stops is called the registration. On modern organs, the registration can be changed instantaneously with the aid of a combination action, usually featuring pistons. Pistons are buttons that can be pressed by the organist to change registrations; they are generally found between the manuals or above the pedalboard. In the latter case they are called toe studs or toe pistons (as opposed to thumb pistons). Most large organs have both preset and programmable pistons, with some of the couplers repeated for convenience as pistons and toe studs. Programmable pistons allow comprehensive control over changes in registration.
Newer organs in the 2000s may have multiple levels of solid-state memory, allowing each piston to be programmed more than once. This allows more than one organist to store their own registrations. Many newer consoles also feature MIDI, which allows the organist to record performances. It also allows an external keyboard to be plugged in, which assists in tuning and maintenance.
Organization of console controls.
The layout of an organ console is not standardized, but most organs follow historic conventions for the country and style of organ, so that the layout of stops and pistons is broadly predictable. The stops controlling each division (see Keyboards) are grouped together. Within these, the standard arrangement is for the lowest sounding stops (32′ or 16′) to be placed at the bottom of the columns, with the higher pitched stops placed above this, (8′ 4′, 2′, 2′, etc.); the mixtures are placed above this (II, III, V, etc.). The stops controlling the reed ranks are placed collectively above these in the same order as above, often with the stop engraving in red. In a horizontal row of stop tabs, a similar arrangement would be applied left to right rather than bottom to top. Among stops of the same pitch, louder stops are generally placed below softer ones (so an Open Diapason would be place towards the bottom and a Dulciana towards the top), but this is less predictable since it depends on the exact stops available and the space available to arrange stop knobs.
Thus, an example stop configuration for a Great division may look like this:
The standard position for these columns of stops (assuming drawknobs are used) is for the Choir or Positive division to be on the outside of the player's right, with the Great nearer the center of the console and the music rest. On the left hand side, the Pedal division is on the outside, with the Swell to the inside. Other divisions can be placed on either side, depending on the amount of space available. Manual couplers and octave extensions are placed either within the stop knobs of the divisions that they control, or grouped together above the uppermost manual. The pistons, if present, are placed directly under the manual they control.
To be more historically accurate, organs built along historical models will often use older schemes for organizing the keydesk controls.
Keyboards.
The organ is played with at least one keyboard, with configurations featuring from two to five keyboards being the most common. A keyboard to be played by the hands is called a manual (from the Latin ', "hand"); an organ with four keyboards is said to have four manuals. Most organs also have a pedalboard, a large keyboard to be played by the feet. [Note that the keyboards are never actually referred to as "keyboards", but as "manuals" and "pedalboard", as the case may be.]
The collection of ranks controlled by a particular manual is called a division. The names of the divisions of the organ vary geographically and stylistically. Common names for divisions are:
Like the arrangement of stops, the keyboard divisions are also arranged in a common order. Taking the English names as an example, the main manual (the bottom manual on two-manual instruments or the middle manual on three-manual instruments) is traditionally called the Great, and the upper manual is called the Swell. If there is a third manual, it is usually the Choir and is placed below the Great. (The name "Choir" is a corruption of "Chair", as this division initially came from the practice of placing a smaller, self-contained, organ at the rear of the organist's bench. This is also why it is called a Positif which means portable organ.) If it is included, the Solo manual is usually placed above the Swell. Some larger organs contain an Echo or Antiphonal division, usually controlled by a manual placed above the Solo. German and American organs generally use the same configuration of manuals as English organs. On French instruments, the main manual (the Grand Orgue) is at the bottom, with the Positif and the Récit above it. If there are more manuals, the Bombarde is usually above the Récit and the Grand Choeur is below the Grand Orgue or above the Bombarde.
In addition to names, the manuals may be numbered with Roman numerals, starting from the bottom. Organists will frequently mark a part in their music with the number of the manual they intend to play it on, and this is sometimes seen in the original composition, typically in pieces written when organs were smaller and only had two or three manuals. It is also common to see couplers labeled as "II to I" (see Couplers below).
In some cases, an organ contains more divisions than it does manuals. In these cases, the extra divisions are called floating divisions and are played by coupling them to another manual. Usually this is the case with Echo/Antiphonal and Orchestral divisions, and sometimes it is seen with Solo and Bombarde divisions.
Although manuals are almost always horizontal, organs with three or more manuals may incline the uppermost manuals towards the organist to make them easier to reach.
Many new chamber organs and harpsichords today feature transposing keyboards, which can slide up or down one or more semitones. This allows these instruments to be played with Baroque instruments at a′=415 Hz, modern instruments at a′=440 Hz, or Renaissance instruments at a′=466 Hz. Modern organs are typically tuned in equal temperament, in which every semitone is 100 cents wide. Many organs that are built today following historical models are still tuned to historically-appropriate temperaments.
The range (compass) of the keyboards on an organ has varied widely between different time periods and different nationalities. Portative organs may have a range of only an octave or two, while a few large organs, such as the Boardwalk Hall Auditorium Organ, may have some manual keyboards approaching the size of a modern piano. German organs of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries featured manual ranges from C to f′′′ and pedal ranges from C to d′, though some organs only had manual ranges that extended down to F. Many French organs of this period had pedal ranges that went down to AA (though this "ravelement" applied only to the reeds, and may have only included the low AA, not AA-sharp or BB). French organs of the nineteenth century typically had manual ranges from C to g′′′ and pedal ranges from C to f′; in the twentieth century the manual range was extended to a′′′. The modern console specification recommended by the American Guild of Organists calls for manual keyboards with sixty-one notes (five octaves, from C to c′′′′) and pedal keyboards with thirty-two notes (two and a half octaves, from C to g′). These ranges apply to the notes written on the page; depending on the registration, the actual range of the instrument may be much greater.
Enclosure and expression pedals.
On most organs, at least one division will be enclosed. On a two-manual (Great and Swell) organ, this will be the Swell division (from whence the name comes); on larger organs often part, or all of, the Choir and Solo divisions will be enclosed as well.
Enclosure is the term for the device that allows volume control (crescendo and diminuendo) for a manual without the addition or subtraction of stops. All the pipes for the division are surrounded by a box-like structure (often simply called the swell box). One side of the box, usually that facing the console or the listener, will be constructed from vertical or horizontal palettes (wooden flaps) which can be opened or closed from the console. This works in a similar fashion to a Venetian blind. When the box is 'open' it allows more sound to be heard than if it were 'closed'.
The most common form of controlling the level of sound released from the enclosed box is by the use of a balanced expression pedal. This is usually placed above the centre of the pedalboard, rotating away from the organist from a near vertical position ("shut") to a near horizontal position ("open"). Unlike a car accelerator pedal, a balanced expression pedal remains in whatever position it was last moved to.
Historically, the enclosure was operated by the use of the ratchet swell lever, a spring-loaded lever that locks into two or three positions controlling the opening of the shutters. Many ratchet swell devices were replaced by the more advanced balanced pedal because it allows the enclosure to be left at any point, without having to keep a foot on the lever.
In addition, an organ may have a crescendo pedal, which would be found to the right of any expression pedals, and similarly balanced. Applying the crescendo pedal will incrementally activate the majority of the stops in the organ, starting with the softest stops and ending with the loudest, excluding only a handful of specialized stops that serve no purpose in a full ensemble. The order in which the stops are activated is usually preset by the organ builder and the crescendo pedal serves as a quick way for the organist to get to a registration that will sound attractive at a given volume without choosing a particular registration, or simply to get to full organ. Most organs also have a piston and/or toe-stud labeled "Tutti" that activates full organ.
Couplers.
A device called a coupler allows the pipes of one division to be played simultaneously from an alternative manual. For example, a coupler labelled "Swell to Great" allows the stops of the Swell division to be played by the Great manual. It is unnecessary to couple the pipes of a division to the manual of the same name (for example, coupling the Great division to the Great manual), because those stops play by default on that manual (though this is done with super- and sub-couplers, see below). By using the couplers, the entire resources of an organ can be played simultaneously from one manual. On a mechanical-action organ, a coupler may connect one division's manual directly to the other, actually moving the keys of the first manual when the second is played.
Some organs feature a device to add the octave above or below what is being played by the fingers. The "super-octave" adds the octave above, the "sub-octave" the octave below. These may be attached to one division only, for example "Swell octave" (the "super" is often assumed), or they may act as a coupler, for example "Swell octave to Great" which gives the effect while playing on the Great division of adding the Swell division an octave above what is being played. These can be used in conjunction with the standard eight foot coupler. The super-octave may be labelled, for example, Swell to Great 4′; in the same manner, the sub-octave may be labelled Choir to Great 16′.
The inclusion of these couplers allows for greater registrational flexibility and color. Some literature (particularly romantic literature from France) calls explicitly for "octaves aigües" (super-couplers) to add brightness, or "octaves graves" (sub-couplers) to add gravity. Some organs feature extended ranks to accommodate the top and bottom octaves when the super- and sub-couplers are engaged (see the discussion under "Unification and extension").
In a similar vein are unison off couplers, which act to "turn off" the stops of a division on its own keyboard. For example, a coupler labelled "Great unison off" would keep the stops of the Great division from sounding, even if they were pulled. Unison off couplers can be used in combination with super- and sub-couplers to create complex registrations that would otherwise not be possible. In addition, the unison off couplers can be used with other couplers to change the order of the manuals at the console: engaging the Great to Choir and Choir to Great couplers along with the Great unison off and Choir unison off couplers would have the effect of moving the Great to the bottom manual and the Choir to the middle manual.
Divided pedal.
Another form of coupler found on some large organs is the divided pedal. This is a device that allows the sounds played on the pedals to be split, so the lower octave (principally that of the left foot) plays stops from the pedal division while the upper half (played by the right foot), plays stops from one of the manual divisions. The choice of manual is at the discretion of the performer, as is the 'split point' of the system.
The system can be found on the organs of Gloucester Cathedral, having been added by Nicholson & Co (Worcester) Ltd/David Briggs and Truro Cathedral, having been added by Mander Organs/David Briggs, as well as on the new nave console of Ripon Cathedral. The system as found in Truro Cathedral operates like this:
This allows four different sounds to be played at once (without thumbing down across manuals), for example:


Hired armed cutter Brave

His Majesty's Hired armed cutter "Brave" served the British Royal Navy from 29 August 1798 until 22 April 1799, when the transport "Eclipse" ran her down off Beachy Head. "Brave" is sometimes described as a lugger and sometimes as a cutter.
During her brief service with the Royal Navy "Brave"′s captain was Lieutenant Gardiner Henry Guion (or John Guion or Guyon or Gunion). On 21 January 1799 "Brave" captured "Jemmy Nosten". Then on 3 March "Brave", together with the hired armed cutter "Lord Nelson", captured "Baron Von Hopkin" and "Sverige Lycka".
On 22 April while "Brave" was escorting a convoy through the English Channel, the transport "Eclipse" ran her down and sank her. "Brave's" crew was saved.
On 13 September 1804 prize money for "Baron Von Hopkin" and "Sverige Lycka" was paid.
Notes, citations, and references.
Notes
Citations
References