Personal life and early career.

Ewry was born in Lafayette, Indiana, and contracted polio as a young boy. In his childhood, he used a wheelchair, and it was feared that he might become paralysed for life.  However, Ewry did his own exercises and overcame his illness. Ewry attended Purdue University in 1890–1897, where he captained the track and field team, played American football, and became a member of Sigma Nu fraternity. After receiving a graduate degree in mechanical engineering at Purdue, he moved to New York. There he worked as a hydraulics engineer and became a member of the New York Athletic Club. He specialized in now defunct events, the standing jumps: the standing high jump, the standing long jump and the standing triple jump. These events are similar to their modern, normal versions but the athlete jumped without a run-up.

Career.

Ewry proved to be the best standing jumper in the world. At his first Olympics, held in Paris (1900), he won gold medals in all three standing jumps. Incidentally, all three finals were held on the same day (July 16).  At the 1904 Summer Olympics, Ewry successfully defended all three of his titles. The standing triple jump event was discontinued after those Olympics, but Ewry continued to dominate the two remaining standing jump events at both the 1906 Intercalated Games and 1908 Games, thus bringing his total to 10 Olympic gold titles including two from the Intercalated Games, the highest number achieved until 2008. The 1906 Intercalated Games are currently not officially recognised by the IOC, although they were organized as an Olympic event by the IOC. Even if the 1906 games are removed from his totals, he stands () as the 12th most successful Olympian of all time in terms of total individual medals and second most successful in terms of individual gold medals. The standing jumping events were no longer held in the Olympics after 1912.  Ewry's superiority is also displayed by the fact that his world record in the standing long jump () was still standing when the event was discontinued internationally in the 1930s. In 1974 he was inducted into the National Track and Field Hall of Fame and in 1983 into the United States Olympic Hall of Fame.

Longstanding records for Olympic medals.

Ewry's eight Olympic gold medals in individual events (i.e. non-relay), although now second to Michael Phelps's 13, was the record, all alone, for 100 years and 23 days—from July 23, 1908, until Phelps won "his" eighth on August 15, 2008 (followed by his ninth on August 16).  His record of winning three gold medals in "one event", although it had subsequently been equaled by seven other athletes, was not surpassed for 60 years—from 1908 until Al Oerter won his "fourth" gold (discus throw) in 1968, a feat equaled by Carl Lewis when he won his fourth (long jump) in 1996, Michael Phelps when he won his fourth (200 meter individual medley) in 2016, and by Kaori Icho when she won her fourth consecutive gold in women's wrestling in 2016.  Finally, his record of three gold medals in "two" events, set in July 1908 (standing long jump on July 20 and standing high jump on July 23) was not surpassed for 108 years—until in 2016 Michael Phelps won his third gold medal in the 200-meter butterfly to win three gold medals in three events (200-meter individual medley, 100-meter butterfly, and 200-meter butterfly). Phelps equaled Ewry's record in 2012, when he won his third gold in the 100 meter butterfly on August 3, having won his third in the 200-meter individual medley on August 2.  Ewry currently holds the record for the most Olympic medals with a 100% record—8 individual golds.

Raymond "Ray" Clarence Ewry (October 14, 1873 – September 29, 1937) was an American track and field athlete who won eight gold medals at the Olympic Games and two gold medals at the Intercalated Games (1906 in Athens). This puts him among the most successful Olympians of all time.


Description.

Appearance.

The Pyrenean Shepherd is the smallest of the French and Spanish herding dogs. The breed comes in two varieties: Rough-faced (Poil Long) and smooth-Faced (Face Rase). Rough-faced males are at the withers, and rough-faced females are. Smooth-faced males are at the withers, and smooth-faced females are inches at the withers. The weight is between, aiming for lithe and muscular, never fat.  The head is of small proportions in comparison to the dog, with a rather flat skull, and a somewhat short, triangular muzzle. The face is expressive and intelligent, with dark eyes, except in the case of merles or slate grey coat colour. Traditionally the dog's ears are cropped. If natural, the Pyrenean Shepherd should have semi-prick or rose ears. Naturally prick ears are not correct for the breed, and may indicate an outcross.  The body is long and lean, and should reflect the natural energetic athleticism of the dog. The legs are well proportioned, with lean, well-angulated, well-let-down hocks typical of a sure-footed mountain breed. The tail can be docked short, a natural bob-tail, or naturally long with a crook in the end, so long as its carried below the topline at rest and in motion.

Coat.

The coat has two basic varieties, smooth-faced and rough-faced (demi-long or long-haired). The smooth-faced variety has short, fine hairs on the muzzle, with a modest ruff around the face and neck, and some feathering along the legs, tail, and belly. In contrast, the rough-faced has longer hair on the muzzle and face, though never enough to cover or obscure the eyes or create a bearded effect, and demi-long or long, coarse hair over the rest of the body. The rough-faced dog can also form cords over his hindquarters and front legs.

Color.

Shades of fawn are most typical for the breed, either with or without black mask and overlay. Also very common are brindles and various shades of grey. Less common are merles of various kinds (blue merle, brindle merle, fawn merle), and black. All colors allow for some white at the head, chest, and feet, but solid colors are preferred.

Temperament.

The Pyrenean Shepherd was designed to be a sheepdog, and as such is full of the same sort of energy that other herding dogs have, but in a surprisingly small package. This adaptive dog wants to, and can, do all the jobs on the field, and is a natural herder. A dog that needs a job, its cleverness makes it ideal for other work and dog sports such as flyball, competitive obedience, and agility. This dog is good with, and protective of, children with whom they were brought up.  Pyr Sheps are "one-man" dogs, attached and dedicated to their owners, with a desire to follow them around the house to help with daily chores. They sense every mood and often seem to be able to read their masters' minds, as they are constantly watchful. Because of this, they are extremely trainable.  Their natural wariness, while valuable in a herding dog which might need to alert their shepherd of strange animals or people, combined with their herding bossiness, can lead to shyness or aggression in even the most friendly puppy if not properly managed. Frequent socialization from a very young age can help counter this trait.

Activities.

Pyrenean Shepherds can compete in dog agility trials, obedience, showmanship, flyball, and tracking events.  On 1 January 2009, the Pyrenean Shepherd finally became eligible to compete in herding events in the United States sponsored by the AKC. Herding instincts and trainability can be measured at noncompetitive herding tests. Pyr Sheps exhibiting basic herding instincts can be trained to compete in herding trials.

Care.

Pyrenean Shepherds need only a weekly brush, as well as regular checks for burrs or mats, to keep their coat in good condition. They also need a lot of space indoors, and space to exercise outdoors.

History.

After the first World War, the Pyrenean Shepherd, or "Pyr Shep", gained national recognition in France for their valiant work as couriers, search and rescue dogs, watch dogs, and company mascots.  The smooth-faced Pyrenean Shepherd in its harlequin or blue merle coloration may have been one of the foundation breeds for the Australian Shepherd when sheep herders brought their sheepdogs to the American West when they flew to the United States as contract herders for the Western Range Association in the 1940s until the early 1970s.  The Pyr Shep is not yet a well-known breed outside of its native France and Spain, but its size, intelligence, and attractive coat make it appealing. After one of its breed won the World Agility Championship for midsized dogs in 2003, it gained more attention as an intelligent performance dog for dog sports.  On 24 January 2015, a male Pyrenean Shepherd, GCh (Grand Champion) La Brise Sun Bear, a dog (i.e., male), was awarded an AKC all-breed Best In Show (BIS). This was the first BIS since having been formally recognized by the AKC for competition (within the Herding Group).  The first Pyrenean Sheepdogs were registered with the Kennel Club (UK) in 1988 and the Pyrenean Sheepdog Club of Great Britain was formed in 1992 by a small number of enthusiasts.

The Pyrenean Shepherd (known in France originally, and also in non-AKC registries such as the UKC, as the Berger des Pyrénées, and in Spain as the Pastor de los Pirineos) is a medium-small breed of dog native to the Pyrenees mountains in southern France and northern Spain, bred since at least medieval times for herding livestock, especially sheep. It worked as an active herder together with the Great Pyrenees, another breed, which acted as the flock's guardian.


Distribution.

"Pinus mugo" is native to the subalpine zones of the Pyrenees, Alps, Erzgebirge, Carpathians, northern and central Apennines, and higher Balkan Peninsula mountains - Rila, Pirin, Korab, Prokletije, etc. It is usually found from, occasionally as low as in the north of the range in Germany and Poland, and as high as in the south of the range in Bulgaria and the Pyrenees. Also in the Republic of Kosova it is found in the Bjeshkët e Nemuna National Park.  "Pinus mugo" was planted in coastal Denmark for sand dune stabilization. It has naturalized and become invasive.

Subspecies.

There are three subspecies:  Both subspecies have similar foliage, with dark green leaves ("needles") in pairs, long.  The cones are nut-brown, long: and in subsp. "mugo" are symmetrical, thin-scaled and matt textured; and in subsp. "uncinata" are asymmetrical with thick scales on the upper side of the cone, thin on the lower side, and glossy textured.  An old name for the species "" is still occasionally seen, and a typographical error ""mugho"" (first made in a prominent 18th century encyclopedia) is still repeated surprisingly often.

Uses.

Cultivation.

"Pinus mugo" is widely cultivated as an ornamental plant, for use as a small tree or shrub, planted in gardens and in larger pots and planters. It is also used in Japanese garden style landscapes, and for larger bonsai specimens. In Kosova, its trunk is used as construction material for the vernacular architecture in the mountains called "Bosonica".

Cultivars.

Numerous cultivars have been selected. The following have been given the Royal Horticultural Society’s Award of Garden Merit:  Cultivars with seasonal changes in foliage color include "Pinus mugo" 'Wintergold' and "Pinus mugo" 'Ophir'.

Culinary use.

A recent trend is the increase in use of the mugo pine in cooking. Buds and young cones are harvested from the wild in the spring and left to dry in the sun over the summer and into the fall. The cones and buds gradually drip syrup, which is then boiled down to a concentrate and combined with sugar to make pine syrup. The syrup is usually sold as "pinecone syrup" or "pine cone syrup".

Invasive species.

"Pinus mugo" is classed as a wilding conifer, and spreads as an invasive species in the high country of New Zealand, coastal Denmark, and other areas of Scandinavia.

Pinus mugo, known as bog pine, creeping pine, dwarf mountain pine, mugo pine, mountain pine, scrub mountain pine, or Swiss mountain pine, is a species of conifer, native to high elevation habitats from southwestern to Central Europe and Southeast Europe.


Signs and symptoms.

Pilonidal cysts are itchy and often very painful, and typically occur between the ages of 15 and 35. Although usually found near the coccyx, the condition can also affect the navel, armpit or genital region, though these locations are much rarer.  Signs and symptoms may include:  Some people with a pilonidal cyst will be asymptomatic.

Pilonidal sinus.

Pilonidal sinus (PNS): is a sinus tract, or small channel, that may originate from the source of infection and open to the surface of the skin. Material from the cyst drains through the pilonidal sinus. A pilonidal cyst is usually painful, but with draining the patient might not feel pain.

Causes.

One proposed cause of pilonidal cysts is ingrown hair, although hairs found in pilonidal sinus tracts may originate from the head. Excessive sitting is thought to predispose people to the condition, as sitting increases pressure on the coccygeal region. Trauma is not believed to cause a pilonidal cyst; however, such an event may result in inflammation of an existing cyst; there are cases where this can occur months after a localized injury to the area. Some researchers have proposed that pilonidal cysts may be caused by a congenital pilonidal dimple. Excessive sweating can also contribute to the formation of a pilonidal cyst: moisture can fill a stretched hair follicle, which helps create a low-oxygen environment that promotes the growth of anaerobic bacteria, often found in pilonidal cysts. The presence of bacteria and low oxygen levels hamper wound healing and exacerbate a forming pilonidal cyst.

Diagnosis.

Differential diagnosis.

A pilonidal cyst can resemble a dermoid cyst, a kind of teratoma (germ cell tumor). In particular, a pilonidal cyst in the gluteal cleft can resemble a sacrococcygeal teratoma. Correct diagnosis is important because all teratomas require consultation with an oncologist and complete surgical excision, if possible without any spillage.

Treatment.

If there is infection, treatment is generally by incision and drainage just off the midline.  The evidence or elective treatment of pilonidal sinus disease is poor. The most commonly performed surgery is for the pilonidal sinus complex to be surgically excised with the wound often left open to heal. Post-surgical wound packing may be necessary, and packing typically must be replaced daily for 4 to 8 weeks. In some cases, two years may be required for complete granulation to occur. Sometimes the cyst is resolved via surgical marsupialization.  Surgeons can also excise the sinus and repair with a reconstructive flap technique, such as a "cleft lift" procedure or Z-plasty, usually done under general anesthetic. This approach is especially useful for complicated or recurring pilonidal disease, leaves little scar tissue and flattens the region between the buttocks, reducing the risk of recurrence. This approach typically results in a more rapid recovery than the traditional surgery, however there are fewer surgeons trained in the cleft lift procedure and it consequently may not be as accessible to patients, depending on their location. Meta-analysis shows recurrence rates were lower in open healing than with primary closure (RR 0.60, 95% CI 0.42 to 0.87), at the expense of healing time. Pilonidal cysts can recur, and do so more frequently if the surgical wound is sutured in the midline, as opposed to away from the midline, which obliterates the natal cleft and removes the focus of shearing stress. An incision lateral to the intergluteal cleft is therefore preferred, especially given the poor healing of midline incisions in this region. Minimally invasive techniques with no wound and rapid return to full activities have been reported but await randomised trials.  Another technique is to treat pilonidal sinus with fibrin glue. This technique is of unclear benefit as of 2017 due to insufficient research. The evidence for any treatment is of low quality, and care must be taken not to over interpret any study in this field.

Etymology.

Pilonidal means nest of hair and is derived from the Latin words for hair ("pilus") and nest ("nidus"). The condition was first described by Herbert Mayo in 1833. R.M. Hodges was the first to use the phrase pilonidal cyst to describe the condition in 1880.  The condition was widespread in the United States Army during World War II. The condition was termed "Jeep seat" or "Jeep riders' disease", because a large portion of people who were being hospitalized for it rode in Jeeps, and prolonged rides in the bumpy vehicles were believed to have caused the condition due to irritation and pressure on the coccyx.

Pilonidal disease is a type of skin infection which typically occurs as a cyst between the cheeks of the buttocks and often at the upper end. Symptoms may include pain, swelling, and redness. There may also be drainage of fluid, but rarely a fever. Risk factors include obesity, family history, prolonged sitting, greater amounts of hair, and not enough exercise. The underlying mechanism is believed to involve a mechanical process. The lesions may contain hair and skin debris. Diagnosis is based on symptoms and examination. If there is infection, treatment is generally by incision and drainage just off the midline. Shaving the area may prevent recurrence. More extensive surgery may be required if the disease recurs. Antibiotics are usually not needed. Without treatment the condition may remain long term. About 3 per 10,000 people per year are affected, and it occurs more often in males than females. Young adults are most commonly affected. The term "pilonidal" means "nest of hair". The condition was first described in 1833.


Description.

The prostrate stems are long, each bearing two reniform leaves with long petioles. The leaves are about 10 cm wide. The upper surface of the leaves is shiny, and they have a pepper-like taste and smell. There are also 2 to 3 stipules present that occur in two rows opposite each other on the stem. The flowers are solitary, terminal and nodding. The flower tube is composed of fused tepals that ends with 3 petal-like projections that are brownish towards their ends and dark purple toward the centre. There are 12 stamens present. The flowers emerge in the late winter and spring.

Distribution and habitat.

"Asarum europaeum" has a wide distribution in Europe. It ranges from southern Finland and northern Russia south to southern France, Italy, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia and Bulgaria. It is absent from the British Isles and Scandinavia, and also from northwestern Germany and the Netherlands. Within Europe, the plant is grown outside of its range in the United Kingdom, Denmark, Sweden, Norway and the Netherlands.  It occurs mostly in deciduous woodland or coniferous forests, especially in calcareous (chalky) soils.

Subspecies.

There are two recognised subspecies other than the type, including "A. europaeum" ssp. "caucasicum", which is confined to the southwestern Alps, and "A. europaeum" ssp. "italicum", which is found in central and northern Italy as well as in the Skopska Crna Gora mountains of North Macedonia and Kosovo.

Cultivation.

"A. europaeum" is quite shade-tolerant and is often employed as groundcover where little else will grow. This plant has gained the Royal Horticultural Society’s Award of Garden Merit.

Asarum europaeum, commonly known as asarabacca, European wild ginger, hazelwort, and wild spikenard, is a species of flowering plant in the birthwort family Aristolochiaceae, native to large parts of temperate Europe, and also cultivated in gardens. It is a creeping evergreen perennial with glossy green, kidney shaped leaves and solitary dull purple flowers hidden by the leaves. Though its roots have a ginger aroma, it is not closely related to the true culinary ginger "Zingiber officinale", which originates in tropical Asian rainforests. It is sometimes harvested for use as a spice or a flavoring. In former days, it was used in snuff and also medicinally as an emetic and cathartic.


Biography.

Early life.

Born in Cölln on the Spree (today part of Berlin), George William was the son of John Sigismund, Margrave of Brandenburg and Anna of Prussia. His maternal grandfather was Albert Frederick, Duke of Prussia. In 1616 George William married Elisabeth Charlotte of the Palatinate. Their only son Frederick William later became known as the "Great Elector". Of his two daughters, the eldest, Louise Charlotte, married Jacob Kettler, Duke of Courland, and the younger, Hedwig Sophie, married William VI, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel.

Rule.

In 1619 George William inherited the Margravate of Brandenburg and the Duchy of Prussia. He paid his feudal homage in person to the King of Poland, Sigismund III Vasa, in September 1621 in Warsaw (the Duchy of Prussia was a fief of the Kingdom of Poland at the time). The homage was renewed in 1633 after the election of a new Polish king, Władysław IV Vasa. During the Thirty Years' War, the Reformed George William tried to remain neutral between the Roman Catholic forces of the Holy Roman Empire and the Protestant principalities. As his sister Maria Eleonora of Brandenburg was queen of Sweden, George William had to maneuver between requests of assistance from his Lutheran brother-in-law King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden and his own Protestant counsellors on one side and his Catholic chancellor Count Adam von Schwarzenberg on the other.  Despite his attempts at neutrality, George William was forced by Gustavus Adolphus, since 1626 occupying Ducal Prussia's access to the sea, to join the Protestant forces in 1631. His rule was largely weak and ineffective, as much of government responsibilities in Brandenburg-Prussia was turned over to Schwarzenberg as the country suffered greatly during the war. Protestant and Catholic troops alike burned and plundered the Brandenburg region and the population was decimated there as it was throughout the German states. Whereas Ducal Prussia remained mostly untouched.  With his brother-in-law Gustavus dead in 1632, George William maintained the Swedish alliance until after the Swedish defeat at the Battle of Nördlingen on 6 September 1634. At that point, George William withdrew Brandenburg from the war and signed the Peace of Prague with Emperor Ferdinand II on 30 May 1635. Leaving Schwarzenberg in charge of the government, George William withdrew in 1637 to the relatively safe region of Ducal Prussia, where he lived in retirement until his death at Königsberg in Prussia in 1640.  [aged 45]

George William (; 13 November 1595 – 1 December 1640), of the Hohenzollern dynasty, was margrave and elector of Brandenburg and duke of Prussia from 1619 until his death. His reign was marked by ineffective governance during the Thirty Years' War. He was the father of Frederick William, the "Great Elector".


Production, chemical properties, occurrence.

Zirconia is produced by calcining zirconium compounds, exploiting its high thermal stability.

Structure.

Three phases are known: monoclinic below 1170 °C, tetragonal between 1170 °C and 2370 °C, and cubic above 2370 °C. The trend is for higher symmetry at higher temperatures, as is usually the case. A small percentage of the oxides of calcium or yttrium stabilize in the cubic phase. The very rare mineral tazheranite, (Zr,Ti,Ca)O, is cubic. Unlike TiO, which features six-coordinated titanium in all phases, monoclinic zirconia consists of seven-coordinated zirconium centres. This difference is attributed to the larger size of the zirconium atom relative to the titanium atom.

Chemical reactions.

Zirconia is chemically unreactive. It is slowly attacked by concentrated hydrofluoric acid and sulfuric acid. When heated with carbon, it converts to zirconium carbide. When heated with carbon in the presence of chlorine, it converts to zirconium tetrachloride. This conversion is the basis for the purification of zirconium metal and is analogous to the Kroll process.

Engineering properties.

Zirconium dioxide is one of the most studied ceramic materials. ZrO adopts a monoclinic crystal structure at room temperature and transitions to tetragonal and cubic at higher temperatures. The change of volume caused by the structure transitions from tetragonal to monoclinic to cubic induces large stresses, causing it to crack upon cooling from high temperatures. When the zirconia is blended with some other oxides, the tetragonal and/or cubic phases are stabilized. Effective dopants include magnesium oxide (MgO), yttrium oxide (YO, yttria), calcium oxide (CaO), and cerium(III) oxide (CeO).  Zirconia is often more useful in its phase'stabilized' state. Upon heating, zirconia undergoes disruptive phase changes. By adding small percentages of yttria, these phase changes are eliminated, and the resulting material has superior thermal, mechanical, and electrical properties. In some cases, the tetragonal phase can be metastable. If sufficient quantities of the metastable tetragonal phase is present, then an applied stress, magnified by the stress concentration at a crack tip, can cause the tetragonal phase to convert to monoclinic, with the associated volume expansion. This phase transformation can then put the crack into compression, retarding its growth, and enhancing the fracture toughness. This mechanism is known as transformation toughening, and significantly extends the reliability and lifetime of products made with stabilized zirconia.  The ZrO band gap is dependent on the phase (cubic, tetragonal, monoclinic, or amorphous) and preparation methods, with typical estimates from 5–7 eV.  A special case of zirconia is that of tetragonal zirconia polycrystal, or TZP, which is indicative of polycrystalline zirconia composed of only the metastable tetragonal phase.

Uses.

The main use of zirconia is in the production of hard ceramics, such as in dentistry, with other uses including as a protective coating on particles of titanium dioxide pigments, as a refractory material, in insulation, abrasives and enamels. Stabilized zirconia is used in oxygen sensors and fuel cell membranes because it has the ability to allow oxygen ions to move freely through the crystal structure at high temperatures. This high ionic conductivity (and a low electronic conductivity) makes it one of the most useful electroceramics. Zirconium dioxide is also used as the solid electrolyte in electrochromic devices.  Zirconia is a precursor to the electroceramic lead zirconate titanate ("PZT"), which is a high-K dielectric, which is found in myriad components.

Niche uses.

The very low thermal conductivity of cubic phase of zirconia also has led to its use as a thermal barrier coating, or TBC, in jet and diesel engines to allow operation at higher temperatures. Thermodynamically, the higher the operation temperature of an engine, the greater the possible efficiency. Another low thermal conductivity use is a ceramic fiber insulation for crystal growth furnaces, fuel cell stack insulation and infrared heating systems.  This material is also used in dentistry in the manufacture of 1) subframes for the construction of dental restorations such as crowns and bridges, which are then veneered with a conventional feldspathic porcelain for aesthetic reasons, or of 2) strong, extremely durable dental prostheses constructed entirely from monolithic zirconia, with limited but constantly improving aesthetics. Zirconia stabilized with yttria (yttrium oxide), known as yttria-stabilized zirconia, can be used as a strong base material in some full ceramic crown restorations.  Transformation toughened zirconia is used to make ceramic knives. Because of the hardness, ceramic-edged cutlery stays sharp longer than steel edged products.  Due to its infusibility and brilliant luminosity when incandescent, it was used as an ingredient of sticks for limelight.  Zirconia has been proposed to electrolyze carbon monoxide and oxygen from the atmosphere of Mars to provide both fuel and oxidizer that could be used as a store of chemical energy for use with surface transportation on Mars. Carbon monoxide/oxygen engines have been suggested for early surface transportation use as both carbon monoxide and oxygen can be straightforwardly produced by zirconia electrolysis without requiring use of any of the Martian water resources to obtain hydrogen, which would be needed for the production of methane or any hydrogen-based fuels.  Zirconia can be used as photocatalyst since its high band gap (~ 5 eV) allows the generation of high energetic electrons and holes. Some studies demonstrated the activity of doped zirconia (in order to increase visible light absorption) in degrading organic compounds and reducing Cr(VI) from wastewaters.  Zirconia is also a potential high-k dielectric material with potential applications as an insulator in transistors.  Zirconia is also employed in the deposition of optical coatings; it is a high-index material usable from the near-UV to the mid-IR, due to its low absorption in this spectral region. In such applications, it is typically deposited by PVD.  In jewelry making, some watch cases are advertised as being "black zirconium oxide". In 2015 Omega released a fully ZrO watch named "The Dark Side of The Moon" with ceramic case, bezel, pushers and clasp, advertising it as four times harder than stainless steel and therefore much more resistant to scratches during everyday use.

Diamond simulant.

Single crystals of the cubic phase of zirconia are commonly used as diamond simulant in jewellery. Like diamond, cubic zirconia has a cubic crystal structure and a high index of refraction. Visually discerning a good quality cubic zirconia gem from a diamond is difficult, and most jewellers will have a thermal conductivity tester to identify cubic zirconia by its low thermal conductivity (diamond is a very good thermal conductor). This state of zirconia is commonly called "cubic zirconia", "CZ", or "zircon" by jewellers, but the last name is not chemically accurate. Zircon is actually the mineral name for naturally occurring zirconium silicate (ZrSiO).

Zirconium dioxide (), sometimes known as zirconia (not to be confused with zircon), is a white crystalline oxide of zirconium. Its most naturally occurring form, with a monoclinic crystalline structure, is the mineral baddeleyite. A dopant stabilized cubic structured zirconia, cubic zirconia, is synthesized in various colours for use as a gemstone and a diamond simulant.


Plot summary.

The novel, set in 1861, described adventures of British expedition led by Captain John Hatteras to the North Pole. Hatteras is convinced that the sea around the pole is not frozen and his obsession is to reach the place no matter what. Mutiny by the crew results in destruction of their ship but Hatteras, with a few men, continues on the expedition. On the shore of the island of "New America" he discovers the remains of a ship used by the previous expedition from the United States. Doctor Clawbonny recalls in mind the plan of the real Ice palace, constructed completely from ice in Russia in 1740 to build a snow-house, where they should spend a winter. The travellers winter on the island and survive mainly due to the ingenuity of Doctor Clawbonny (who is able to make fire with an ice lens, make bullets from frozen mercury and repel attacks by polar bears with remotely controlled explosions of black powder).  When the winter ends the sea becomes ice-free. The travellers build a boat from the shipwreck and head towards the pole. Here they discover an island, an active volcano, and name it after Hatteras. With difficulty a fjord is found and the group get ashore. After three hours climbing they reach the mouth of the volcano. The exact location of the pole is in the crater and Hatteras jumps into it. As the sequence was originally written, Hatteras perishes in the crater; Verne's editor, Jules Hetzel, suggested or rather required that Verne do a rewrite so that Hatteras survives but is driven insane by the intensity of the experience, and after return to England he is put into an asylum for the insane. Losing his "soul" in the cavern of the North Pole, Hatteras never speaks another word. He spends the remainder of his days walking the streets surrounding the asylum with his faithful dog Duke. While mute and deaf to the world, Hatteras' walks are not without a direction. As indicated by the last line "Captain Hatteras forever marches northward".

New America.

New America is the name given to a large Arctic island, a northward extension of Ellesmere Island, as discovered by Captain John Hatteras and his crew. Its features include, on the west coast, Victoria Bay, Cape Washington, Johnson Island, Bell Mountain, and Fort Providence, and at its northern point (), Altamont Harbour.  As with many of Verne's imaginative creations, his description of Arctic geography was based on scientific knowledge at the time the novel was written (1866) but foreshadowed future discoveries. Ellesmere Island had been re-discovered and named by Edward Inglefield in 1852 and further explored by Isaac Israel Hayes in 1860-61. Forty years after the novel's publication, in 1906, Robert Peary claimed to have sighted Crocker Land around 83° N, and in 1909, Frederick Cook sighted Bradley Land at 85° N, both at locations occupied by Verne's New America. Cook's choice of route may actually have been inspired by his reading of Verne.  The land is named by Captain Altamont, an American explorer, who is first to set foot on the land. In the novel as published, it is unclear whether New America is meant to be a territorial claim for the United States. As William Butcher points out, this would not be surprising, since Verne wrote about the US acquisition of Alaska in "The Fur Country", and Lincoln Island is proposed as a US possession in "The Mysterious Island". In fact, a deleted chapter, "John Bull and Jonathan," had Hatteras and Altamont dueling for the privilege of claiming the land for their respective countries.

Adaptation.

In 1912, Georges Méliès made a film based on the story entitled "The Conquest of the Pole" ().

English translations.

A number of English-language translations of "The Adventures of Captain Hatteras" were published in the nineteenth century. These are generally considered to be out-of-copyright, and copies can be obtained from free sources:  These translations compress and truncate Verne's text to varying degrees; the Osgood translation is considered to be of “relatively good quality.” Editions from other publishers are generally based on one of these four translations.  A modern translation by William Butcher was published by Oxford University Press in 2005.

The Adventures of Captain Hatteras () is an adventure novel by Jules Verne in two parts: "The English at the North Pole" () and "The desert of ice" ().


History.

Switzerland.

Class Ce 6/8.

A prototype locomotive, SBB-CFF-FFS Ce 6/8 I number 14201, was ordered in June 1917. The production "Crocodiles" were the series "SBB Ce 6/8 II" and "SBB Ce 6/8 III" locomotives of the SBB, Swiss Federal Railways, built between 1919 and 1927. There were 33 class Ce 6/8 II and 18 class Ce 6/8 III, making a total (excluding the prototype) of 51 locomotives. These locomotives were developed for pulling heavy goods trains on the steep tracks of the Gotthardbahn from Lucerne to Chiasso, including the Gotthard Tunnel.  The electric motors available at the time were large and had to be body-mounted above the plane of the axles, but flexibility was required to negotiate the tight curves on the Alpine routes and tunnels. An articulated design, with two powered nose units bridged with a pivoting center section containing cabs and the heavy transformer, met both requirements and gave excellent visibility from driving cabs mounted safely away from any collision. The two motors in each nose unit were geared to a jackshaft between the drive axles farthest from the cab (SBB Ce 6/8 II) or farthest from the end (SBB Ce 6/8 III), with side rods carrying the power to the drivers. These locomotives, sometimes called the "Swiss Crocodile" or "SBB Crocodile", were highly successful and served until the 1982. The German model railway manufacturer Märklin published a book about their history in 1984. Nine out of 51 total produced have survived, but only three are still in operation as preserved historical locomotives in Switzerland.

Class Be 6/8.

Between 1942 and 1947, thirteen members of class Ce 6/8 II were upgraded with more powerful motors, to allow a higher top speed, and these became class Be 6/8 II. This required raising the jackshaft above the plane of the axles, necessitating a more complex system of side rods. In 1956, all eighteen members of class Ce 6/8 III were upgraded and became class Be 6/8 III.

Narrow gauge.

As well as standard gauge Crocodiles, there are also narrow gauge versions. The best known are the Rhaetian Railway (RhB)'s metre gauge locomotives of class Ge 6/6 I, the Rhaetian Crocodile. Several of these still run on passenger trains on special occasions. They are also used on freight trains in busy periods. The Bernina Railway (later merged with the RhB) also built a single Crocodile type, the Ge 4/4, nicknamed the "Bernina Crocodile". This locomotive survives and is being restored to operating condition.  Two other Swiss narrow-gauge railways also have locomotives nicknamed Crocodiles; the BVZ Zermatt-Bahn (BVZ) (which merged with the Furka Oberalp Bahn (FO) in 2003 to form the Matterhorn-Gotthard-Bahn) uses series "HGe 4/4 I", known as the Zermatt crocodile, while the Chemin de Fer Yverdon-Ste. Croix owns a solitary class "Ge 4/4" #21. Neither of these locomotive types have an articulated body, which leads some railfans to nickname them "false crocodiles".

Austria.

Very similar locomotives were used in Austria as Austrian Federal Railways ("Österreichische Bundesbahn") classes ÖBB 1089 and ÖBB 1189, and are often known as "Austrian Crocodiles".

Germany.

The German classes E 93 and E 94, also used by the ÖBB as series 1020, are sometimes called "German crocodiles". They are sometimes nicknamed "Alligators", instead, because of their broader, shorter snouts.

France.

The French SNCF 25 kV AC locomotives of classes CC 14000 and CC 14100, used mainly for iron ore trains on the, have sometimes been called "crocodiles", although more commonly "flatirons". They are different from the Swiss crocodiles in that they are not articulated, but are a single long steeplecab or'monocabine' with a bogie beneath each end.

India.

Crocodile locomotives were also used in India. These locomotives, of series WCG-1, were used from 1928 between Bombay and Pune, and were all built to the Indian broad gauge of 5 ft 6 in (1676 mm). The first 10 locomotives were built by Swiss Locomotive and Machine Works. Vulcan Foundry of Great Britain constructed a further 31 examples for this line.

Other Crocodile-like locomotives.

The articulated-body design was not unique to the Crocodiles. It was used in the United States on the Milwaukee Road class EP-2 "Bi-Polars", for example.  Many more locomotives adopted the design of long noses without articulation of the body. The single GE 4/4 of the Yverdon–Ste-Croix railway was known as the "Crocodile", despite being an elongated Bo-Bo steeplecab with articulated bogies beneath, rather than an articulated locomotive. This extended to painting it with large crocodile heads on each side.  In the United Kingdom, the LNER Class ES1 featured a crocodile-like design and was built between 1902 and 1904, both locomotives remaining in service until 1966, when No.2 was scrapped and No. 1 (BR No.26500) was preserved, now on display at Shildon Locomotion Museum.  The Panama Canal uses double-ended locomotives, known as'mules', to act as land-based tugs to steer ships through the Canal's lock chambers.  Furthermore, some examples of locomotives similar in design to the Crocodiles, which were manufactured by Škoda can be found on the route between Borjomi and Bakuriani in Georgia.

Crocodile (German Krokodil) electric locomotives are so called because they have long "noses" at each end, reminiscent of the snout of a crocodile (see also Steeplecab). These contain the motors and drive axles, and are connected by an articulated center section. The center section usually contains the crew compartments, pantographs and transformer.


History.

1909 saw the first mention of a apatosaurus-like creature in "Beasts and Men", the autobiography of famed big-game hunter Carl Hagenbeck. He claimed to have heard from two independent sources about a creature living in Rhodesia which was described to them by natives as "half elephant, half dragon." Naturalist Joseph Menges had also told Hagenbeck about similar stories. Hagenbeck speculated that "it can only be some kind of dinosaur, seemingly akin to the "Brontosaurus"." Another of Hagenbeck's sources, Hans Schomburgk, asserted that while at Lake Bangweulu, he noted a lack of hippopotami; his native guides informed him of a large hippo-killing creature that lived in Lake Bangweulu; however, as noted below, Schomburgk thought that native testimony was sometimes unreliable.  Reports of entities described to be dinosaur-like in Africa caused a minor sensation in the mass media, and newspapers in Europe and North America carried many articles on the subject in 1910–1911; some took the reports at face value, others were more skeptical.  According to German adventurer Lt. Paul Gratz's account from 1911:The crocodile is found only in very isolated specimens in Lake Bangweulu, except in the mouths of the large rivers at the north. In the swamp lives the "nsanga", much feared by the natives, a degenerate saurian which one might well confuse with the crocodile were it not that its skin has no scales and its toes are armed with claws. I did not succeed in shooting a "nsanga", but on the island of Mbawala I came by some strips of its skin.  Another report comes from German Captain, as described by Willy Ley in "Exotic Zoology" (1959). Von Stein was ordered to conduct a survey of German colonies in what is now Cameroon in 1913. He heard stories of an enormous reptile called "Mokéle-mbêmbe" alleged to live in the jungles, and included a description in his official report. According to Ley, "von Stein worded his report with utmost caution," knowing it might be seen as unbelievable. Nonetheless, von Stein thought the tales were credible: trusted native guides had related the tales to him, and the stories were related to him by independent sources, yet featured many of the same details. Though von Stein's report was never formally published, Ley quoted von Stein as writing:  The animal is said to be of a brownish-gray color with a smooth skin, its size is approximately that of an elephant; at least that of a hippopotamus. It is said to have a long and very flexible neck and only one tooth but a very long one; "some say it is a horn". A few spoke about a long, muscular tail like that of an alligator. Canoes coming near it are said to be doomed; the animal is said to attack the vessels at once and to kill the crews but without eating the bodies. The creature is said to live in the caves that have been washed out by the river in the clay of its shores at sharp bends. It is said to climb the shores even at daytime in search of food; its diet is said to be entirely vegetable. This feature disagrees with a possible explanation as a myth. The preferred plant was shown to me, it is a kind of liana with large white blossoms, with a milky sap and applelike fruits. At the Ssombo River I was shown a path said to have been made by this animal in order to get at its food. The path was fresh and there were plants of the described type nearby. But since there were too many tracks of elephants, hippos, and other large mammals it was impossible to make out a particular spoor with any amount of certainty.  Alfred Aloysius Smith, who had worked for a British trading company in what is now Gabon in the late 1800s, briefly mentions in his 1927 memoir the "jago-nini" and "amali":Aye, and behind the Cameroon there's things living we know nothing about. I could 'a' made books about many things. The "Jago-Nini" they say is still in the swamps and rivers. Giant diver it means. Comes out of the water and devours people. Old men'll tell you what their grandfathers saw but they still believe its there. Same as the Amali I've always taken it to be. I've seen the Amali's footprint. About the size of a good frying pan in circumference and three claws instead of five.He also speculates that "some great creature like the Amali" could be responsible for finding broken and splintered ivory in (now known to be mythical) elephants' graveyards, as well as claiming to have given a chiseled out cave painting of the "amali" to Ulysses S. Grant.  In 2001, BBC broadcast in the TV series "Congo" a collective interview with a group of BiAka pygmies, who identified the "mokele mbembe" as a rhinoceros while looking at an illustrated manual of wildlife. Neither species of African rhinoceros is common in the Congo Basin, and the Mokèlé-mbèmbé may be a mixture of mythology and folk memory from a time when rhinoceroses were found in the area.  In August and September of 2018, Lensgreve of Knuthenborg, Adam Christoffer Knuth, along with a film crew from DR and a DNA scientist, traveled to Lake Tele in Congo, in search of the Mokele-mbembe. They did not find the dinosaur. However they found a new green algae, which has not been discovered before.  In 2016, a young travel documentary crew, from South Africa, made an independent documentary about searching for 'Mokèlé-mbèmbé, which they later sold to Discovery Africa. The team, consisting of Jordan Deall, Luke Macdonald, and Donovan Orr, spent roughly four weeks in the Likuoala swamp region visiting various Aka (pygmy) villages, collecting stories of the creature's existence. Whilst they point out the difficulty of differentiating between Mokele-Mbembe's spiritual and physical existence, they interview numerous people who believe in its presence, whilst others suggest the last of the species died at least a decade ago.

In Congo River Basin mythology, Mokele-mbembe (Lingala:, "one who stops the flow of rivers") is a water-dwelling entity, sometimes described as a living creature, sometimes as a spirit.


Description.

Sometimes she has long streaming hair and wears a gray cloak over a green dress, and her eyes are red from continual weeping. She may be dressed in white with red hair and a ghastly complexion, according to a firsthand account by Ann, Lady Fanshawe in her "Memoirs". Lady Wilde in "Ancient Legends of Ireland" provides another:  The size of the banshee is another physical feature that differs between regional accounts. Though some accounts of her standing unnaturally tall are recorded, the majority of tales that describe her height state the banshee's stature as short, anywhere between one foot and four feet. Her exceptional shortness often goes alongside the description of her as an old woman, though it may also be intended to emphasize her state as a fairy creature.  Sometimes the banshee assumes the form of some sweet singing virgin of the family who died young, and has been given the mission by the invisible powers to become the harbinger of coming doom to her mortal kindred. Or she may be seen at night as a shrouded woman, crouched beneath the trees, lamenting with veiled face, or flying past in the moonlight, crying bitterly. The cry of this spirit is mournful beyond all other sounds on earth, and betokens certain death to some member of the family whenever it is heard in the silence of the night.

Keening.

In Ireland and parts of Scotland, a traditional part of mourning is the keening woman ("bean chaointe"), who wails a lament—in, (Munster dialect), (Connaught dialect) or (Ulster dialect), "caoin" meaning "to weep, to wail". This keening woman may in some cases be a professional, and the best keeners would be in high demand.  Irish legend speaks of a lament being sung by a fairy woman, or banshee. She would sing it when a family member died or was about to die, even if the person had died far away and news of their death had not yet come. In those cases, her wailing would be the first warning the household had of the death.  The banshee also is a predictor of death. If someone is about to enter a situation where it is unlikely they will come out alive she will warn people by screaming or wailing, giving rise to a banshee also being known as a wailing woman.  It is often stated that the banshee laments only the descendants of the pure Milesian stock of Ireland, sometimes clarified as surnames prefixed with O' and Mac, and some accounts even state that each family has its own banshee. One account, however, also included the Geraldines, as they had apparently become "more Irish than the Irish themselves," countering the lore ascribing banshees exclusively to those of Milesian stock. Another exception was the Rossmore banshee which supposedly heralded the death of a member of the family of Baron Rossmore, whose ancestry was predominantly Scottish and Dutch.  When several banshees appear at once, it indicates the death of someone great or holy. The tales sometimes recounted that the woman, though called a fairy, was a ghost, often of a specific murdered woman, or a mother who died in childbirth.

Origin.

Most, though not all, surnames associated with banshees have the "Ó" or "Mc/Mac" prefix - that is, surnames of Goidelic origin, indicating a family native to the Insular Celtic lands rather than those of the Norse, English, or Norman. Accounts reach as far back as 1380 to the publication of the "Cathreim Thoirdhealbhaigh" ("Triumphs of Torlough") by Sean mac Craith. Mentions of banshees can also be found in Norman literature of that time.  The Ua Briain banshee is thought to be named Aibell and the ruler of 25 other banshees who would always be at her attendance. It is possible that this particular story is the source of the idea that the wailing of numerous banshees signifies the death of a great person.  In some parts of Leinster, she is referred to as the "bean chaointe" (keening woman) whose wail can be so piercing that it shatters glass. In Scottish folklore, a similar creature is known as the bean nighe or "ban nigheachain" (little washerwoman) or "nigheag na h-àth" (little washer at the ford) and is seen washing the bloodstained clothes or armour of those who are about to die. In Welsh folklore, a similar creature is known as the cyhyraeth.

In popular culture.

Banshees, or creatures based upon them, have appeared in many forms in popular culture.

A banshee ( ; Modern Irish,, from,, "woman of the fairy mound" or "fairy woman") is a female spirit in Irish folklore who heralds the death of a family member, usually by wailing, shrieking, or keening. Her name is connected to the mythologically important tumuli or "mounds" that dot the Irish countryside, which are known as síde (singular "síd") in Old Irish.


History.

In the silent era the principal requirement of film stock identification during a day's shoot was the slate. Since the earliest sound films (until the advent of digital cinematography) visual and audio tracks were recorded on separate media by separate equipment. The "slate" was maintained and for the benefit of sound synchronization the addition of a "clapper" was devised, a crew member bringing his hands together in one firm clap in frame before the removal of the slate and the call, "action". Two hinged aligned wooden sticks hitting each other were later added to the top of the slate, as they produced a sharper sound.  The clapper as two sticks hinged together was invented by F. W. Thring (father of actor Frank Thring), who was head of Efftee Studios in Melbourne, Australia. The clapboard with both the sticks and slate together was a refinement of Leon M. Leon (1903–1998) a pioneer sound engineer.  The release of Aretha Franklin's 1972 concert film "Amazing Grace" was delayed for 46 years due to young Academy Award nominated director Sydney Pollack forgetting to use clapperboards, making the film impossible to edit until the advent of non-linear editing.

Function.

The clapperboard combines a 'chalkboard slate' or perspex board with 'filmsticks' or 'clappersticks'. The slate displays the name of the production, the scene and "take" about to be performed, and similar information; a camera assistant holds the clapperboard so the slate is in view of the cameras with the Filmsticks already open, speaks out information for the benefit of the audio recording, then claps the filmsticks shut.  The shutting of the filmsticks is easily identified on the visual track, and the sharp "clap" noise is easily identified on the separate audio track. The two tracks can later be precisely synchronised by matching the sound and movement. Since each take is identified on both the visual and audio tracks, segments of film are easily matched with segments of audio.

Construction.

Traditional clapperboards consisted of a wooden slate with a hinged filmstick attached to its top. Modern clapperboards generally use a pair of wooden sticks atop either a whiteboard or a translucent acrylic glass slate (the latter being easily legible via the light coming through it from the scene about to be shot). The filmsticks traditionally have diagonally interleaved lines of black and white to ensure a clear visual of the clap in most lighting conditions. In recent years sticks with calibrated color stripes have become available.  Digislates are simply clapperboards with inbuilt electronic boxes displaying SMPTE time code. The timecode displayed on the clapperboard will have been jam synced with the internal clock of the camera so it's easy for an editor to pull the timecode metadata from the video file and sound clip and synchronise them together. However, electronic timecode can drift throughout a shoot day so the Filmsticks on the clapperboard still need to be closed together in order to ensure there's a way of manually synchronising the footage and audio if matching the digital timecode fails.

Operation.

The slate typically includes the date, the production title, the name of the director, the name of the director of photography (DoP) and the scene information — which follows two popular systems:  A verbal identification of the numbers, known either as "voice slate" or "announcement", occurs after sound has reached speed. At the same time or shortly thereafter, the camera will start running, and the clapperboard is then filmed briefly at the start of the 'take' and the filmsticks are clapped sharply as soon as the camera has reached sync speed. Specific procedures vary depending on the nature of the production (documentary, television, feature, commercial, etc.), and the dominant camera assisting regional conventions.  A clapper board is generally used to identify all takes on a production, even takes that do not require synchronization, such as MOS takes, which have no sound. When a slate is used to mark an MOS take, the slate is held half open, with a hand blocking the sticks, or closed, with a hand over the sticks.

Operator.

The clapper loader (or 2nd AC) is generally responsible for the maintenance and operation of the clapperboard, while the script supervisor is responsible for determining which system will be used and what numbers a given take should have. While these are usually fairly obvious once a system has been agreed upon, the script supervisor is usually considered the final arbiter in the event of an unclear situation.

Alternatives.

Sometimes a "tail slate" or end slate is filmed at the end of a take, during which the clapperboard is held upside-down. This is done when the slate was not captured at the start of the take due to the camera being set up for the shot in such a way that the board cannot be captured, for example when a specific focus or frame is set up and cannot be altered until the take is complete. Tail slates are also commonly used when the director makes the decision that clapping a slate at the beginning of the scene would be distracting to the actor, such as when filming a highly emotional performance.

A clapperboard is a device used in filmmaking and video production to assist in synchronizing of picture and sound, and to designate and mark the various scenes and takes as they are filmed and audio-recorded.


Family background and early years.

Taaffe was the second son of Count Louis Taaffe, 9th Viscount Taaffe (1791–1855), Austrian Minister of Justice during the Revolutions of 1848 and president of the court of appeal. His ancestor Francis Taaffe, 3rd Earl of Carlingford (1639–1704) had entered the service of the Habsburg Monarchy in the 17th century; the family held large estates in Bohemia.  As a child, Eduard Taaffe was one of the chosen companions of the young Archduke Francis Joseph, who in 1848 was crowned Emperor of Austria. That connection led to a distinguished political career for Taafe in the service of the Habsburgs. He studied law at the University of Vienna and entered public service in 1852. From 1861 he served at the Bohemian crown land government in Prague and in 1863 was appointed "Landespräsident" (stadtholder) in the Duchy of Salzburg. He backed the implementation of the February Patent constitution under State Minister Anton von Schmerling and in 1864 became a member of the Bohemian Diet ("Landtag"), where he did however not excel. In 1867 the Chairmen of the Ministers' Conference Count Richard Belcredi appointed him Upper Austrian stadtholder at Linz.  By the death of his elder brother Charles (1823–1873), colonel in the Austro-Hungarian Army, Eduard Graf von Taaffe succeeded to the Irish titles. He had married Countess Irma Tsaky in 1862, by whom he left four daughters and one son, Henry.

Political life.

Minister-President (first term).

During the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867, Emperor Francis Joseph offered him the post of Minister of the Interior in Count Friedrich Ferdinand von Beust's cabinet. In June he became vice-president of the ministry, and at the end of the year he entered the first ministry ("Bürgerministerium") of the newly organized Austrian portion of the monarchy. For the next three years he took a notable part in the confused political changes, and probably more than any other politician represented the wishes of the emperor.  Taaffe had entered the ministry as a German Liberal, but he soon took an intermediate position between the Liberal majority of the "Bürgerministerium" ("Citizen's Ministry" because it was mainly commoners) and the party which desired a federal constitution and which was strongly supported at court. From September 1868 to January 1870, after the retirement of Auersperg, he was president of the cabinet. In 1870, the government fell on the question of the revision of the constitution: Taaffe with Potocki and Johann Nepomuk Berger wished to make some concessions to the Federalists; the Liberal majority wished to preserve undiminished the authority of the Imperial Council. The two parties presented memoranda to the emperor, each defending their view and offering their resignation: after some hesitation the emperor accepted the policy of the majority, and Taaffe with his friends resigned.

Second term.

The Liberals, however, failed to form a new government, as the representatives of most of the territories refused to appear in the Imperial Council: they resigned, and in the month of April Potocki and Taaffe returned to office. The latter failed, however, in an attempt to come to an understanding with the Czechs, and in their turn they had to make way for the Clerical and Federalist cabinet of Hohenwart. Taaffe now became governor of Tyrol, but in 1879, on the collapse of the Liberal government, he was recalled to high office. At first, he attempted to carry on the government without a change of principles, but he soon found it necessary to come to an understanding with the Feudal and Federal parties and was responsible for the conduct of the negotiations which in the elections of the same year gave a majority to the different groups of the National and Clerical opposition. In July he became minister president: at first he still continued to govern with the Liberals, but this was soon made impossible, and he was obliged to turn for support to the Conservatives.  Legislation to help the working class emerged from Catholic conservatives. They turned to social reform by using Swiss and German models and intervening in state economic matters. In Germany Chancellor Otto von Bismarck had used such policies to neutralize socialist promises. The Catholics studied the Swiss Factory Act of 1877 that limited working hours for everyone, and gave maternity benefits, and German laws that insured workers against industrial risks inherent in the workplace. These served as the basis for Austria's 1885 Trade Code Amendment.

Election reform of 1882.

Count Taaffe is mostly remembered for his election reform of 1882, which reduced to 5 guilders the minimum tax base required for men over the age of 24 to vote. Before this reform, the tax base was set locally, but was usually at a considerably higher level, so that only 6% of the male population of Cisleithania had been entitled to vote. However, even after this reform, there were still four classes of voters whose vote counted differently, depending on how much tax an individual was paying.  The next election reform was enacted in 1896 by Kasimir Felix Graf Badeni, who succeeded in bringing about more radical reforms than Taaffe had achieved.

Policies on nationalities.

It was Taaffe's great achievement that he persuaded the Czechs to abandon the policy of abstention and to take part in the parliament. It was on the support of them, the Poles, and the Clericals that his majority depended. His avowed intention was to unite the nationalities of Austria: Germans and Slavs were, as he said, equally integral parts of Austria; neither must be oppressed; both must unite to form an Austrian parliament. Notwithstanding the growing opposition of the German Liberals, who refused to accept the equality of the nationalities, he kept his position for thirteen years.

Late years.

In 1893 he was defeated on a proposal for the revision of the franchise, and resigned. He retired into private life, and died two years later at his country residence, Ellischau, in Bohemia.

Eduard Franz Joseph Graf von Taaffe, 11th Viscount Taaffe (24 February 183329 November 1895) was an Austrian statesman, who served for two terms as Minister-President of Cisleithania, leading cabinets from 1868 to 1870 and 1879 to 1893. He was a scion of the Irish Taaffe noble dynasty, who held hereditary titles from two countries: Imperial Counts ("Reichsgrafen") of the Holy Roman Empire and viscounts in the Peerage of Ireland (in the United Kingdom).


Dietary leucine.

As a food additive, L-leucine has E number E641 and is classified as a flavor enhancer.

Requirements.

The Food and Nutrition Board (FNB) of the U.S. Institute of Medicine set Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDAs) for essential amino acids in 2002. For leucine, for adults 19 years and older, 42 mg/kg body weight/day.

Health effects.

As a dietary supplement, leucine has been found to slow the degradation of muscle tissue by increasing the synthesis of muscle proteins in aged rats. However, results of comparative studies are conflicted. Long-term leucine supplementation does not increase muscle mass or strength in healthy elderly men. More studies are needed, preferably ones based on an objective, random sample of society. Factors such as lifestyle choices, age, gender, diet, exercise, etc. must be factored into the analyses to isolate the effects of supplemental leucine as a standalone, or if taken with other branched chain amino acids (BCAAs). Until then, dietary supplemental leucine cannot be associated as the prime reason for muscular growth or optimal maintenance for the entire population.  Both L-leucine and D-leucine protect mice against seizures. D-leucine also terminates seizures in mice after the onset of seizure activity, at least as effectively as diazepam and without sedative effects. Decreased dietary intake of L-leucine promotes adiposity in mice. High blood levels of leucine are associated with insulin resistance in humans, mice, and rodents. This might be due to the effect of leucine to stimulate mTOR signaling. Dietary restriction of leucine and the other BCAAs can reverse diet-induced obesity in wild-type mice by increasing energy expenditure, and can restrict fat mass gain of hyperphagic rats.

Safety.

Leucine toxicity, as seen in decompensated maple syrup urine disease, causes delirium and neurologic compromise, and can be life-threatening.  A high intake of leucine may cause or exacerbate symptoms of pellagra in people with low niacin status because it interferes with the conversion of L-tryptophan to niacin.  Leucine at a dose exceeding 500 mg/kg/d was observed with hyperammonemia. As such, unofficially, a tolerable upper intake level (UL) for leucine in healthy adult men can be suggested at 500 mg/kg/d or 35 g/d under acute dietary conditions.

Pharmacology.

Pharmacodynamics.

Leucine is a dietary amino acid with the capacity to directly stimulate myofibrillar muscle protein synthesis. This effect of leucine arises results from its role as an activator of the mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR), a serine-threonine protein kinase that regulates protein biosynthesis and cell growth. The activation of mTOR by leucine is mediated through Rag GTPases, leucine binding to leucyl-tRNA synthetase, leucine binding to sestrin 2, and possibly other mechanisms.

Metabolism in humans.

Leucine metabolism occurs in many tissues in the human body; however, most dietary leucine is metabolized within the liver, adipose tissue, and muscle tissue. Adipose and muscle tissue use leucine in the formation of sterols and other compounds. Combined leucine use in these two tissues is seven times greater than in the liver.  A small fraction of metabolism – less than 5% in all tissues except the testes where it accounts for about 33% – is initially catalyzed by leucine aminomutase, producing β-leucine, which is subsequently metabolized into (β-KIC), β-ketoisocaproyl-CoA, and then acetyl-CoA by a series of uncharacterized enzymes.

Synthesis in non-human organisms.

Leucine is an essential amino acid in the diet of animals because they lack the complete enzyme pathway to synthesize it "de novo" from potential precursor compounds. Consequently, they must ingest it, usually as a component of proteins. Plants and microorganisms synthesize leucine from pyruvic acid with a series of enzymes: Synthesis of the small, hydrophobic amino acid valine also includes the initial part of this pathway.

Chemistry.

Leucine is a branched-chain amino acid (BCAA) since it possesses an aliphatic side-chain that is not linear.  Racemic leucine had been subjected to circularly polarized synchrotron radiation to better understand the origin of biomolecular asymmetry. An enantiomeric enhancement of 2.6% had been induced, indicating a possible photochemical origin of biomolecules' homochirality.

Leucine (symbol Leu or L) is an essential amino acid that is used in the biosynthesis of proteins. Leucine is an α-amino acid, meaning it contains an α-amino group (which is in the protonated −NH form under biological conditions), an α-carboxylic acid group (which is in the deprotonated −COO form under biological conditions), and a side chain isobutyl group, making it a non-polar aliphatic amino acid. It is essential in humans, meaning the body cannot synthesize it: it must be obtained from the diet. Human dietary sources are foods that contain protein, such as meats, dairy products, soy products, and beans and other legumes. It is encoded by the codons UUA, UUG, CUU, CUC, CUA, and CUG.


History.

In the UK, after the 1987 discovery that BSE could cause vCJD, the original feed ban was introduced in 1988 to prevent ruminant protein being fed to ruminants. In addition, it has been illegal to feed ruminants with all forms of mammalian protein (with specific exceptions) since November 1994 and to feed any farmed livestock, including fish and horses, with mammalian meat and bone meal (mammalian MBM) since 4 April 1996. Regulation (EC) No.999/2001 introduced EU-wide regulations, which relaxed UK controls.  In 2000, UK supermarket chain Co-op Food was still calling for "a legally-binding Europe-wide ban on the feeding of animal waste to farm animals". They opined that the practice was tantamount to cannibalism. According to the BBC at the time there was no ban on the use in livestock feed of animal blood, tallow, poultry offal and feather meal.

European categories.

In Europe (before the 2002 EU Regulation), animal by-products were classified into two categories: "high risk" or "low risk" products. Since 2002, "processed animal protein" (PAP) and other animal by-products, authorized or not for various uses, are categorized into three categories (by the European Regulation 2002) according to their supposed or demonstrated level of health risk.

Detection.

A minimum of 500g is required to test samples of solid or liquid material at the Irish Equine Centre, an independent not-for-profit organisation. Tests are by light microscopy and using real-time PCR for ruminant DNA. The presence of MBM and fish products in feed can be tested by light microscopy in two days. The presence of ruminant DNA in feed by real-time PCR can be detected by this lab in 48 to 72 hours.

Meat and bone meal (MBM) is a product of the rendering industry. It is typically about 48–52% protein, 33–35% ash, 8–12% fat, and 4–7% water. It is primarily used in the formulation of animal feed to improve the amino acid profile of the feed. Feeding of MBM to cattle is thought to have been responsible for the spread of BSE (mad cow disease); therefore, in most parts of the world, MBM is no longer allowed in feed for ruminant animals. However, it is still used to feed monogastric animals.


Terminology.

In past decades, the term "pull-up" also referred to open-chain pulling exercises done with a barbell. These exercises are now more popularly known as the bent-over row (in the 1950s) and upright row (in the 1970s).  Some have associated a "pull-up" with utilizing an overhand (pronated; palms facing away) grip. This includes by the Boy Scouts of America, Guinness World Records "makes a difference between" pull-ups and chin-ups according to grip. Organizations such as the United States Marine Corps and the World Pull-Up Organization however, see pull-ups including both the overhand and underhand grips.  Variations of pull-ups, beyond being named for their grip, can also be named based on how high the body rises, by naming it after the body part that either comes into contact with or passes over the top of the bar. A "chest-up" or "sternum-up" for example, indicates that the chest or sternum meets the bar, requiring extra scapular adduction and depression.

As a physical test.

Pull-ups are a common way to measure the upper body strength of the "pulling muscles". They are used by the United States Marine Corps as a part of the Physical Fitness Test, although marines may also choose to substitute push-ups.  Pull-ups were also used as part of military test in Singapore, where the IPPT for National-Service men is used. It is also used in the NAPFA test for male students above the age of 14. It was then removed in 2014 with the announcement of a new IPPT format.

Grips.

Pull-ups can be done with a supinated, neutral, or pronated grip (often called "chin-ups", "hammer grip pull-ups", and "pull-ups", respectively). Grips may match each other or be different (mixed grip). Grips may also rotate throughout the movement, such as by doing them on rings, rotating handles (false grip) or pull up handles. The range of motion used by trainers can vary. The fullest possible range is with straight arms overhead (elbow directly above shoulder), to pulling when the arms are at the sides (elbow directly below shoulder). People sometimes only train portions, such as avoiding locking out the arms at the bottom, or stopping when the head/chin/neck touch the bar. Positions within the range are also trained isometrically, as in flexed-arm and straight-arm hangs for time.  The width of the grip may also differ. When grabbing and holding the bar during the pull-up, the hands can be apart at shoulder-width, or wider, or narrower enough to touch each other. This may make the pull-up more difficult and may limit the range of motion compared to the shoulder-width grip.

Safety.

Organizations such as the American Council on Exercise give advice such as "care should be taken not to unduly put stress on your shoulder during this exercise". Elbow pain due to tendonitis, bursitis, and ulnar nerve entrapment can occur as a result of excessive pull ups and improper technique.

World Records (pronated grip).

Guinness World Records.

Bodyweight:  Bodyweight (variations):  Weighted:

RecordHolders.Org.

As of January 2015 the most repetitions within a given time period:

A pull-up is an upper-body strength exercise. The pull-up is a closed-chain movement where the body is suspended by the hands and pulls up. As this happens, the elbows flex and the shoulders adduct and extend to bring the elbows to the torso.


Origin.

Anima.

Anima originated from Latin, and was originally used to describe ideas such as breath, soul, spirit or vital force. Jung began using the term in the early 1920s to describe the inner feminine side of men.

Animus.

Animus originated from Latin, where it was used to describe ideas such as the rational soul, life, mind, mental powers, courage or desire. In the early nineteenth century, animus was used to mean "temper" and was typically used in a hostile sense. In 1923, it began being used as a term in Jungian psychology to describe the masculine side of women.

Levels of anima development.

Jung believed anima development has four distinct levels, which in "The psychology of the transference" he named "Eve", "Helen", "Mary" and "Sophia". In broad terms, the entire process of anima development in a man is about the male subject opening up to emotionality, and in that way a broader spirituality, by creating a new conscious paradigm that includes intuitive processes, creativity and imagination, and psychic sensitivity towards himself and others where it might not have existed previously.

Eve.

The first is "Eve", named after the Genesis account of Adam and Eve. It deals with the emergence of a man's object of desire. The anima is completely tied up with woman as provider of nourishment, security and love.  The man at this anima level cannot function well without a woman, and is more likely to be controlled by her. He is often impotent or has no sexual desire.

Helen.

The second is "Helen", an allusion to Helen of Troy in Greek mythology. In this phase, women are viewed as capable of worldly success and of being self-reliant, intelligent and insightful, even if not altogether virtuous. This second phase is meant to show a strong schism in external talents (cultivated business and conventional skills) with lacking internal qualities (inability for virtue, lacking faith or imagination).

Mary.

The third phase is "Mary", named after the Christian theological understanding of the Virgin Mary (Jesus' mother). At this level, women can now seem to possess virtue by the perceiving man (even if in an esoteric and dogmatic way), in as much as certain activities deemed consciously unvirtuous cannot be applied to her.

Sophia.

The fourth and final phase of anima development is "Sophia", named after the Greek word for wisdom. Complete integration has now occurred, which allows women to be seen and related to as particular individuals who possess both positive and negative qualities. The most important aspect of this final level is that, as the personification "Wisdom" suggests, the anima is now developed enough that no single object can fully and permanently contain the images to which it is related.

Levels of animus development.

Jung focused more on the man's anima and wrote less about the woman's animus. Jung believed that every woman has an analogous animus within her psyche, this being a set of unconscious masculine attributes and potentials. He viewed the animus as being more complex than the anima, postulating that women have a host of animus images whereas the male anima consists only of one dominant image.  Jung stated that there are four parallel levels of animus development in a woman.

Man of mere physical power.

The animus "first appears as a personification of mere physical power - for instance as an athletic champion or "muscle man", such as 'the fictional jungle hero Tarzan'".

Man of action or romance.

In the next phase, the animus "possesses initiative and the capacity for planned action...the "romantic" man - the 19th century British poet Byron; or the "man of action" - America's Ernest Hemingway, war hero, hunter, etc."

Man as a professor, clergyman, orator.

In the third phase "the animus becomes the "word", often appearing as a professor or clergyman...the bearer of the word - Lloyd George, the great political orator".

Man as a spiritual guide.

"Finally, in his fourth manifestation, the animus is the incarnation of "meaning". On this highest level he becomes (like the anima) a mediator of...spiritual profundity". Jung noted that "in mythology, this aspect of the "animus" appears as Hermes, messenger of the gods; in dreams he is a helpful guide." Like Sophia, this is the highest level of mediation between the unconscious and conscious mind. In the book "The Invisible Partners," John A. Sanford said that the key to controlling one's anima/animus is to recognize it when it manifests and exercise our ability to discern the anima/animus from reality.

Anima and animus compared.

The four roles are not identical with genders reversed. Jung believed that while the anima tended to appear as a relatively singular female personality, the animus may consist of a conjunction of multiple male personalities: "in this way the unconscious symbolizes the fact that the animus represents a collective rather than a personal element".  The process of animus development deals with cultivating an independent and non-socially subjugated idea of self by embodying a deeper "word" (as per a specific existential outlook) and manifesting this word. To clarify, this does not mean that a female subject becomes more set in her ways (as this word is steeped in emotionality, subjectivity, and a dynamism just as a well-developed anima is) but that she is more internally aware of what she believes and feels, and is more capable of expressing these beliefs and feelings. Thus the "animus in his most developed form sometimes...make[s] her even more receptive than a man to new creative ideas".  Both final stages of animus and anima development have dynamic qualities (related to the motion and flux of this continual developmental process), open-ended qualities (there is no static perfected ideal or manifestation of the quality in question), and pluralistic qualities (which transcend the need for a singular image, as any subject or object can contain multiple archetypes or even seemingly antithetical roles). They also form bridges to the next archetypal figures to emerge, as "the unconscious again changes its dominant character and appears in a new symbolic form, representing the Self". - the archetypes of the Wise Old Woman/Man

Jungian cautions.

Jungians warned that "every personification of the unconscious - the shadow, the anima, the animus, and the Self - has both a light and a dark aspect...the anima and animus have dual aspects: They can bring life-giving development and creativeness to the personality, or they can cause petrification and physical death".  One danger was of what Jung termed "invasion" of the conscious by the unconscious archetype - "Possession caused by the anima...bad taste: the anima surrounds herself with inferior people". Jung insisted that "a state of anima possession...must be prevented. The anima is thereby forced into the inner world, where she functions as the medium between the ego and the unconscious, as does the persona between the ego and the environment".  Alternatively, over-awareness of the anima or animus could provide a premature conclusion to the individuation process - "a kind of psychological short-circuit, to identify the animus at least provisionally with wholeness". Instead of being "content with an intermediate position", the animus seeks to usurp "the self, with which the patient's animus identifies. This identification is a regular occurrence when the shadow, the dark side, has not been sufficiently realized".

The anima and animus are described in Carl Jung's school of analytical psychology as part of his theory of the collective unconscious. Jung described the animus as the unconscious masculine side of a woman, and the anima as the unconscious feminine side of a man, each transcending the personal psyche. Jung's theory states that the anima and animus are the two primary anthropomorphic archetypes of the unconscious mind, as opposed to the theriomorphic and inferior function of the shadow archetypes. He believed they are the abstract symbol sets that formulate the archetype of the Self.


History.

Slovakia's flag in its current form (but with another coat of arms on it or without any arms) can be dated back to the revolutionary year 1848 (see: "The Revolutions of 1848 in the Habsburg areas"). It was also used semi-officially in Czechoslovakia before World War II, by the Slovak Republic during World War II.  In 1990, the Interior Ministry tasked Ladislav Čisárik, a painter and heraldic artist, and Ladislav Vrtel, an expert in heraldry, with creating a new coat of arms and national flag. Čisárik and Vrtel based their designs for a modern coat of arms and flag on an existing 14th Century coat of arms. However, Čisárik and Vrtel chose to enlarge the double cross three times to emphasize it as a national symbol. In addition to the national coat of arms and the national flag, the duo also designed a new presidential standard, which incorporates the double cross as well.  The new flag was finally adopted (initially without Čisárik's and Vrtel's coat of arms) on 1 March 1990 as the flag of the Slovak Republic within Czechoslovakia. The coat of arms was added on 3 September 1992 and a special law describing the details of the flag followed in February 1993.

Design.

Since the Slovak flag without the coat of arms is identical to the current flag of the Russian Federation, and can also be compared to the modern flag of Slovenia, the Constitution of Slovakia added the national coat of arms in September 1992.  It is one of 28 national flags that contain overtly Christian symbols.

The current form of the national flag of Slovakia () was adopted by Slovakia's Constitution, which came into force on 3 September 1992. The flag, in common with many other flags of Slavic nations, uses Pan-Slavic colors – red, white and blue, But the variant looks like the flag of Russia.


History.

Founded in July 6, 1863 in Lyon by Henri Germain, Crédit Lyonnais was the biggest bank in the world by 1900. It was nationalised in 1945, as was most of the banking sector in France after the war.  Following a change of leadership and frantic expansion starting in 1988, the bank was the subject of numerous financial scandals, contributing to a huge debt of around 150 billion French francs (nearly €23 billion). This was caused by directors exaggerating investments and by problems with the bank's subsidiary companies.  Crédit Lyonnais became the leading lender to Hollywood studios in the 1980s. Clients included independent film studios Castle Rock Entertainment, Weintraub Entertainment Group, Nelson Entertainment, Vestron Pictures, and Carolco Pictures. Many of these companies developed financial difficulties. It also financed Giancarlo Parretti's takeover of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1990 for $1.25 billion. However, Paretti started looting the company, fired most of the accounting staff, appointed his 21-year-old daughter to a senior financial post, and used company money to buy presents for several girlfriends. By June 1991, CL had had enough: under the terms of an April agreement that gave it control of Parreti's MGM stock, it fired Parretti and began a lawsuit against him. However, CL soon faced intense scrutiny for its dealings with Parretti. Overall, CL lost $5 billion from its Hollywood deals.  The bank avoided financial disaster by moving its troubled debts and liabilities into a new state-owned company, Consortium de Réalisation (CDR). The creation of the CDR was highly controversial, as many did not believe that the French government should have bailed out the bank. The CDR notably agreed to pay US$525 million to the California Department of Insurance in order to head off a lawsuit over the Executive Life insurance scandal. The CDR also ended up with the various film libraries from now defunct film production companies that defaulted on their loans. The library was known as the Epic film library. The Loeb & Loeb law firm spent 4 years determining the full extent of the film assets. In late 1997, PolyGram Filmed Entertainment out bid Disney, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Live Entertainment and several other companies, for the Epic library at $225 million. Despite losing the bid, MGM would acquire the Epic library and the rest of PolyGram's pre-1996 library in 1998.  To allow the bailout, the European Commission imposed severe limitations, principally on the bank's international activities, and the bank was forced to sell many entities in the following years.  The bailout cost French taxpayers almost €15 billion in all.  On May 5, 1996 a major fire destroyed much of Crédit Lyonnais' Paris headquarters. The fire began in the main trading room of the bank and was one of the worst fires to damage a Paris building in 25 years. It burned for over 12 hours, destroying two-thirds of the building, along with crucial bank archives and computer data.  In 1998, Crédit Lyonnais sold Crédit Lyonnais (Austria) to the Anglo Irish Bank.  Crédit Lyonnais was fully privatized in 1999. In 2003 BNP Paribas built a position in the capital of the bank. However, in 2003, Crédit Agricole bought it and reorganised its operations:

Recent controversy.

In 2001, Denis Robert and Ernest Backes book, "Revelation", showed that Crédit Lyonnais was one of the many banks to hold unpublished accounts in Clearstream, a Luxembourg-based transaction clearing company, which has been accused by the authors of being a huge international money-laundering machine.  In 2005 the CDR had to pay back €135 million to the creditors of Bernard Tapie, the controversial billionaire, after a scandal concerning the sale of Adidas.

Sponsorship.

Crédit Lyonnais sponsors the Tour de France, with its corporate brand on the sides of the yellow jersey (for the leader of the general classification in the Tour de France).

Crédit Lyonnais () is a historic French bank. In the early 1990s it was the largest French bank, majority state-owned at that point. Crédit Lyonnais was the subject of poor management during that period which almost led to its bankruptcy in 1993. It was acquired by former rival Crédit Agricole in 2003.


Name.

"Chupacabras" can be literally translated as "goat-sucker", from "chupar" ("to suck") and "cabra" ("goat"). It is known as both "chupacabras" and "chupacabra" throughout the Americas, with the former being the original word, and the latter a regularization of it. The name is attributed to Puerto Rican comedian Silverio Pérez, who coined the label in 1995 while commenting on the attacks as a San Juan radio deejay.

History.

The first reported attack eventually attributed to the creatures occurred in March 1995 in Puerto Rico. Eight sheep were discovered dead, each with three puncture wounds in the chest area and reportedly completely drained of blood. A few months later, in August, an eyewitness, Madelyne Tolentino, reported seeing the creature in the Puerto Rican town of Canóvanas, when as many as 150 farm animals and pets were reportedly killed. In 1975, similar killings in the small town of Moca were attributed to "El Vampiro de Moca" ("The Vampire of Moca"). Initially, it was suspected that the killings were committed by a Satanic cult; later more killings were reported around the island, and many farms reported loss of animal life. Each of the animals was reported to have had its body bled dry through a series of small circular incisions.  Puerto Rican comedian and entrepreneur Silverio Pérez is credited with coining the term "chupacabras" soon after the first incidents were reported in the press. Shortly after the first reported incidents in Puerto Rico, other animal deaths were reported in other countries, such as the Dominican Republic, Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Brazil, United States, and Mexico.  In October and December 2018, there came many reports of chupacabras suspects in Manipur, India. Many domestic animals and poultry were killed in a suspicious manner as chupacabra does. Many people said that they had seen the species (chupacabras) with their eyes. However, forensic experts opined that there was no any aspect of chupacabra but street dogs were responsible for mass killing of domestic animals and poultries after studying the remnant of corpse.

Reputed origin.

A five-year investigation by Benjamin Radford, documented in his 2011 book "Tracking the Chupacabra", concluded that the description given by the original eyewitness in Puerto Rico, Madelyne Tolentino, was based on the creature Sil in the 1995 science-fiction horror film "Species". The alien creature Sil is nearly identical to Tolentino’s chupacabra eyewitness account and she had seen the movie before her report: "It was a creature that looked like the chupacabra, with spines on its back and all... The resemblance to the chupacabra was really impressive," Tolentino reported. Radford revealed that Tolentino "believed that the creatures and events she saw in "Species" were happening in reality in Puerto Rico at the time," and therefore concludes that "the most important chupacabra description cannot be trusted." This, Radford believes, seriously undermines the credibility of the chupacabra as a real animal.  In addition, the reports of blood-sucking by the chupacabra were never confirmed by a necropsy, the only way to conclude that the animal was drained of blood. An analysis by a veterinarian of 300 reported victims of the chupacabra found that they had not been bled dry.  Radford divided the chupacabra reports into two categories: the reports from Puerto Rico and Latin America where animals were attacked and it is supposed their blood was extracted, and the reports in the United States of mammals, mostly dogs and coyotes with mange, that people call "chupacabra" due to their unusual appearance.  In late October 2010, University of Michigan biologist Barry O'Connor concluded that all the chupacabra reports in the United States were simply coyotes infected with the parasite "Sarcoptes scabiei", whose symptoms would explain most of the features of the chupacabra: they would be left with little fur, thickened skin, and rank odor. O'Connor theorized that the attacks on goats occurred "because these animals are greatly weakened, they're going to have a hard time hunting. So they may be forced into attacking livestock because it's easier than running down a rabbit or a deer."  Although several witnesses came to the conclusion that the attacks could not be the work of dogs or coyotes because they had not eaten the victim, this conclusion is incorrect. Both dogs and coyotes can kill and not consume the prey, either because they are inexperienced, or due to injury or difficulty in killing the prey. The prey can survive the attack and die afterwards from internal bleeding or circulatory shock. The presence of two holes in the neck, corresponding with the canine teeth, are to be expected since this is the only way that most land carnivores have to catch their prey.  There are reports of stray Mexican Hairless Dogs being mistaken for chupacabras.

Appearance.

The most common description of the chupacabra is that of a reptile-like creature, said to have leathery or scaly greenish-gray skin and sharp spines or quills running down its back. It is said to be approximately high, and stands and hops in a fashion similar to that of a kangaroo.  Another common description of the chupacabra is of a strange breed of wild dog. This form is mostly hairless and has a pronounced spinal ridge, unusually pronounced eye sockets, fangs, and claws. Unlike conventional predators, the chupacabra is said to drain all of the animal's blood (and sometimes organs) usually through three holes in the shape of a downwards-pointing triangle or through one or two holes.

Related legends.

"Grunches", a favored legend that gets its name from a road in between the Mississippi river and the Gulf of Mexico, known as lovers lane, to the locals of New Orleans.  The "Ozark Howler" a large cougar like animal.  The Peuchens of Chile also share similarities in their supposed habits, but instead of being dog-like they are described as winged snakes. This legend may have originated from the vampire bat, an animal endemic to the region.  In the Philippines, another legendary creature called the Sigbin shares many of chupacabra's descriptions.

In popular culture.

The popularity of the chupacabra has resulted in its being featured in many types of media.

The chupacabra or chupacabras (, literally "goat-sucker"; from "chupar", "to suck", and "cabra", "goat") is a legendary creature in the folklore of parts of the Americas, with its first purported sightings reported in Puerto Rico. The name comes from the animal's reported habit of attacking and drinking the blood of livestock, including goats.