Humidity.

If all the other factors influencing humidity remain constant, at ground level the relative humidity rises as the temperature falls; this is because less vapor is needed to saturate the air. In normal conditions, the dew point temperature will not be greater than the air temperature, since relative humidity cannot exceed 100%.  In technical terms, the dew point is the temperature at which the water vapor in a sample of air at constant barometric pressure condenses into liquid water at the same rate at which it evaporates. At temperatures below the dew point, the rate of condensation will be greater than that of evaporation, forming more liquid water. The condensed water is called dew when it forms on a solid surface, or frost if it freezes. In the air, the condensed water is called either fog or a cloud, depending on its altitude when it forms. If the temperature is below the dew point, and no dew or fog forms, the vapor is called supersaturated. This can happen if there are not enough particles in the air to act as condensation nuclei.  A high relative humidity implies that the dew point is close to the current air temperature. A relative humidity of 100% indicates the dew point is equal to the current temperature and that the air is maximally saturated with water. When the moisture content remains constant and temperature increases, relative humidity decreases, but the dew point remains constant.  General aviation pilots use dew point data to calculate the likelihood of carburetor icing and fog, and to estimate the height of a cumuliform cloud base.  Increasing the barometric pressure increases the dew point. This means that, if the pressure increases, the mass of water vapor in the air must be reduced in order to maintain the same dew point. For example, consider New York ( elevation) and Denver ( elevation). Because Denver is at a higher elevation than New York, it will tend to have a lower barometric pressure. This means that if the dew point and temperature in both cities are the same, the amount of water vapor in the air will be greater in Denver.

Relationship to human comfort.

When the air temperature is high, the human body uses the evaporation of sweat to cool down, with the cooling effect directly related to how fast the perspiration evaporates. The rate at which perspiration can evaporate depends on how much moisture is in the air and how much moisture the air can hold. If the air is already saturated with moisture, perspiration will not evaporate. The body's thermoregulation will produce perspiration in an effort to keep the body at its normal temperature even when the rate at which it is producing sweat exceeds the evaporation rate, so one can become coated with sweat on humid days even without generating additional body heat (such as by exercising).  As the air surrounding one's body is warmed by body heat, it will rise and be replaced with other air. If air is moved away from one's body with a natural breeze or a fan, sweat will evaporate faster, making perspiration more effective at cooling the body. The more unevaporated perspiration, the greater the discomfort.  A wet bulb thermometer also uses evaporative cooling, so it provides a good measure for use in evaluating comfort level.  Discomfort also exists when the dew point is very low (below around ). The drier air can cause skin to crack and become irritated more easily. It will also dry out the airways. The US Occupational Safety and Health Administration recommends indoor air be maintained at with a 20–60% relative humidity, equivalent to a dew point of.  Lower dew points, less than, correlate with lower ambient temperatures and causes the body to require less cooling. A lower dew point can go along with a high temperature only at extremely low relative humidity, allowing for relatively effective cooling.  People inhabiting tropical and subtropical climates acclimatize somewhat to higher dew points. Thus, a resident of Singapore or Miami, for example, might have a higher threshold for discomfort than a resident of a temperate climate like London or Chicago. People accustomed to temperate climates often begin to feel uncomfortable when the dew point gets above, while others might find dew points up to comfortable. Most inhabitants of temperate areas will consider dew points above oppressive and tropical-like, while inhabitants of hot and humid areas may not find this uncomfortable. Thermal comfort depends not just on physical environmental factors, but also on psychological factors.

Measurement.

Devices called hygrometers are used to measure dew point over a wide range of temperatures. These devices consist of a polished metal mirror which is cooled as air is passed over it. The temperature at which dew forms is, by definition, the dew point. Manual devices of this sort can be used to calibrate other types of humidity sensors, and automatic sensors may be used in a control loop with a humidifier or dehumidifier to control the dew point of the air in a building or in a smaller space for a manufacturing process.

Calculating the dew point.

A well-known approximation used to calculate the dew point, "T", given just the actual ("dry bulb") air temperature, "T" (in degrees Celsius) and relative humidity (in percent), RH, is the Magnus formula: formula_1 The more complete formulation and origin of this approximation involves the interrelated saturated water vapor pressure (in units of millibars, also called hectopascals) at "T", "P"("T"), and the actual vapor pressure (also in units of millibars), "P"("T"), which can be either found with "RH" or approximated with the barometric pressure (in millibars), "BP", and "wet-bulb" temperature, "T" is (unless declared otherwise, all temperatures are expressed in degrees Celsius): formula_2  For greater accuracy, "P"("T") (and therefore "γ"("T", RH)) can be enhanced, using part of the "Bögel modification", also known as the Arden Buck equation, which adds a fourth constant "d": formula_3 where  There are several different constant sets in use. The ones used in NOAA's presentation are taken from a 1980 paper by David Bolton in the "Monthly Weather Review": These valuations provide a maximum error of 0.1%, for and. Also noteworthy is the Sonntag1990, Another common set of values originates from the 1974 "Psychrometry and Psychrometric Charts", as presented by Paroscientific, Also, in the "Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology", Arden Buck presents several different valuation sets, with different maximum errors for different temperature ranges. Two particular sets provide a range of −40 °C to +50 °C between the two, with even lower maximum error within the indicated range than all the sets above:

Simple approximation.

There is also a very simple approximation that allows conversion between the dew point, temperature, and relative humidity. This approach is accurate to within about ±1 °C as long as the relative humidity is above 50%: formula_4  This can be expressed as a simple rule of thumb:  For every 1 °C difference in the dew point and dry bulb temperatures, the relative humidity decreases by 5%, starting with RH = 100% when the dew point equals the dry bulb temperature. The derivation of this approach, a discussion of its accuracy, comparisons to other approximations, and more information on the history and applications of the dew point are given in the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society.  For temperatures in degrees Fahrenheit, these approximations work out to T_\mathrm{dp,^\circ F} &\approx T_\mathrm

The dew point is the temperature to which air must be cooled to become saturated with water vapor. When cooled further, the airborne water vapor will condense to form liquid water (dew). When air cools to its dew point through contact with a surface that is colder than the air, water will condense on the surface. When the temperature is below the freezing point of water, the dew point is called the frost point, as frost is formed rather than dew. The measurement of the dew point is related to humidity. A higher dew point means there is more moisture in the air.


Ethnic groups recognized by the People's Republic of China.

The following are the 56 ethnic groups (listed by population) officially recognized by the People's Republic of China (39 in 1954; 54 by 1964; with the most recent addition the Jino people in 1979).  GB 3304-91 "Names of ethnicities of China in romanization with codes";
 The population only includes mainland China and Taiwan;
 For ethnic groups officially recognised in 1964 or earlier, this is the year of first inclusion in the national census, which were in 1954 and 1964;
 Also included are the Chuanqing;
 Also includes Utsuls of Hainan, descended from Cham refugees;
 A subset of which is also known as Hmong (Thus, Hmong peoples worldwide are NOT only Miao);
 including Amdowa and Khampa, as well as roughly half of Pumi speakers, the remainder of whom are classified as a separate Pumi ethnicity;
 Also known as "Kam";
 Also included are the Sangkong;
 This category includes several different Tai-speaking groups historically referred to as "Bai-yi" [in fact, the "Dai" nationalities are actually speakers of Shan languages varieties -for example : Tai Lue and Tai Nuea peoples are actually Shan peoples subgroups]. Although that, the speakers of Bumang are also included in this "Dai" nationality. ;
 Also included are the Mosuo;
 Also included are the Qago ();
 Known as "Kachin" in Myanmar;
 Also included are the Then;
 Actually not Tajik people but Pamiri people;
 The same group as Vietnamese or "Kinh people" in Sino-Vietnamese;
 Known as "Palaung" in Myanmar;
 The same group as Nanai on the Russian side of the border;
 A collective name for all Taiwanese aborigine groups in Taiwan. In fact, the numbers of "Gaoshan" in census covers only those who lives in Mainland China (mainly in Fujian) and consists of Amis (autonym : "Pangcah"), Paiwan and Bunun peoples

Taiwanese aborigines.

The People's Republic of China government officially refers to all Taiwanese Aborigines (), as "Gaoshan" (), whereas the Republic of China (Taiwan) recognizes 16 groups of Taiwanese aborigines. The term "Gaoshan" has a different connotation in Taiwan than it does in mainland China. While several thousands of these aborigines have migrated to Fujian province in mainland China, most remain in Taiwan.

"Undistinguished" ethnic minority groups.

This is a list of ethnic groups in China that are not officially recognized by the government of the People's Republic of China.  Japanese Ili Turki people Sung or Song Chinese that is Southern Chinese  During the Fifth National Population Census of the People's Republic of China (2000), 734,438 persons in the Chinese mainland, 97% of them in Guizhou, were specifically recorded as belonging to "Undistinguished ethnic groups". Presumably, other members of such groups may have been counted within larger "recognized" groups.

Ethnic groups in Hong Kong and Macau.

Hong Kong and Macau are special administrative regions of the People's Republic of China. The governments of Hong Kong and Macau do not use the official PRC ethnic classification system, nor does the PRC's official classification system take ethnic groups in Hong Kong and Macau into account. Minority groups such as Europeans (mainly English and Portuguese), and South or Southeast Asians (mainly Filipinos, Indians, Indonesians, Nepalese, and Pakistanis) live in Hong Kong.

Multiple ethnic groups populate China, the area claimed by both the People's Republic of China (China) and the Republic of China (Taiwan).


Early life and career.

Harris was born in Linton, Indiana, but grew up in Nashville, Tennessee, and identified himself as a Southerner. His hallmark song was "That's What I Like About the South". He had a trace of a Southern accent and in later years made self-deprecating jokes over the air about his heritage. His parents were circus performers. His father, a tent bandleader, gave him his first job as a drummer with the circus's band.  His unusual first name "Wonga", is said to derive from a Cherokee word meaning "messenger of fleet" or, perhaps more accurately translated, "fast messenger."  On September 2, 1927, he married actress Marcia Ralston in Sydney, Australia; they had met when he played a concert date. In 1933, he made a short film for RKO called "So This Is Harris!", which won an Academy Award for best live action short subject. He followed with a feature-length film, "Melody Cruise". Both films were created by the same team that produced "Flying Down to Rio", which started the careers of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. He also starred in "I Love a Bandleader" (1945) with Leslie Brooks. Here he played a house painter who gets amnesia, then starts to lead a band. He recorded "Woodman, Spare That Tree" (by George Pope Morris, Henry Russell) in 1947. His nickname was "Old Curly". Additionally, he appeared in "The Wild Blue Yonder" a.k.a. "Thunder Across the Pacific" (1951), alongside Forrest Tucker and Walter Brennan. He made a cameo appearance in the Warner Bros. musical, "Starlift", with Janice Rule and Dick Wesson, and was featured in "The High and the Mighty" with John Wayne in 1954.

After radio.

A Democrat, he supported the campaign of Adlai Stevenson during the 1952 presidential election.  Harris worked as a voice actor for animated films, providing the voice of Baloo the bear in "The Jungle Book" (1967), Thomas O'Malley in "The Aristocats" (1970), and Little John in "Robin Hood" (1973). In 1989, he reprised his role as Baloo for the cartoon series "TaleSpin", but after a few recording sessions he was replaced by Ed Gilbert.

Bing Crosby.

Harris was a lifelong friend of singer and actor Bing Crosby. He appeared on telecasts of Bing's Pro-Am Golf Tournament from Pebble Beach, California.

Death.

Harris died of a heart attack at his Rancho Mirage home on August 11, 1995. Alice Faye died of stomach cancer three years later. He is interred at Forest Lawn Cemetery, Cathedral City, California.

Awards and honors.

Harris was a resident and benefactor of Palm Springs, California, active in many local civic organizations.  In 1994, a Golden Palm Star on the Palm Springs Walk of Stars was dedicated to him.

An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, generally referred to by its shortened title The Wealth of Nations, is the "magnum opus" of the Scottish economist and moral philosopher Adam Smith. First published in 1776, the book offers one of the world's first collected descriptions of what builds nations' wealth, and is today a fundamental work in classical economics. By reflecting upon the economics at the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, the book touches upon such broad topics as the division of labour, productivity, and free markets.


Background.

The basic protocol for sending data over the Internet network and many other computer networks is the Internet Protocol (IP). The protocol specifies that each IP packet must have a header which contains (among other things) the IP address of the sender of the packet. The source IP address is normally the address that the packet was sent from, but the sender's address in the header can be altered, so that to the recipient it appears that the packet came from another source.  The protocol requires the receiving computer to send back a response to the source IP address, so that spoofing is mainly used when the sender can anticipate the network response or does not care about the response.  The source IP address provides only limited information about the sender. It may provide general information on the region, city and town when on the packet was sent. It does not provide information on the identity of the sender or the computer being used.

Applications.

IP address spoofing involving the use of a trusted IP address can be used by network intruders to overcome network security measures, such as authentication based on IP addresses. This type of attack is most effective where trust relationships exist between machines. For example, it is common on some corporate networks to have internal systems trust each other, so that users can log in without a username or password provided they are connecting from another machine on the internal network (and so must already be logged in). By spoofing a connection from a trusted machine, an attacker on the same network may be able to access the target machine without authentication.  IP address spoofing is most frequently used in denial-of-service attacks, where the objective is to flood the target with an overwhelming volume of traffic, and the attacker does not care about receiving responses to the attack packets. Packets with spoofed IP addresses are more difficult to filter since each spoofed packet appears to come from a different address, and they hide the true source of the attack. Denial of service attacks that use spoofing typically randomly choose addresses from the entire IP address space, though more sophisticated spoofing mechanisms might avoid unroutable addresses or unused portions of the IP address space. The proliferation of large botnets makes spoofing less important in denial of service attacks, but attackers typically have spoofing available as a tool, if they want to use it, so defenses against denial-of-service attacks that rely on the validity of the source IP address in attack packets might have trouble with spoofed packets. Backscatter, a technique used to observe denial-of-service attack activity in the Internet, relies on attackers' use of IP spoofing for its effectiveness.

Legitimate uses.

The use of packets with a false source IP address is not always evidence of malicious intent. For example, in performance testing of websites, hundreds or even thousands of "vusers" (virtual users) may be created, each executing a test script against the website under test, in order to simulate what will happen when the system goes "live" and a large number of users log in on at once.  Since each user will normally have its own IP address, commercial testing products (such as HP LoadRunner, WebLOAD, and others) can use IP spoofing, allowing each user its own "return address" as well.

Services vulnerable to IP spoofing.

Configuration and services that are vulnerable to IP spoofing:

Defense against spoofing attacks.

Packet filtering is one defense against IP spoofing attacks. The gateway to a network usually performs ingress filtering, which is blocking of packets from outside the network with a source address inside the network. This prevents an outside attacker spoofing the address of an internal machine. Ideally the gateway would also perform egress filtering on outgoing packets, which is blocking of packets from inside the network with a source address that is not inside. This prevents an attacker within the network performing filtering from launching IP spoofing attacks against external machines.  It is also recommended to design network protocols and services so that they do not rely on the source IP address for authentication.

Upper layers.

Some upper layer protocols provide their own defense against IP spoofing attacks. For example, Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) uses sequence numbers negotiated with the remote machine to ensure that arriving packets are part of an established connection. Since the attacker normally cannot see any reply packets, the sequence number must be guessed in order to hijack the connection. The poor implementation in many older operating systems and network devices, however, means that TCP sequence numbers can be predicted.

Other definitions.

The term spoofing is also sometimes used to refer to "header forgery", the insertion of false or misleading information in e-mail or netnews headers. Falsified headers are used to mislead the recipient, or network applications, as to the origin of a message. This is a common technique of spammers and sporgers, who wish to conceal the origin of their messages to avoid being tracked.

In computer networking, IP address spoofing or IP spoofing is the creation of Internet Protocol (IP) packets with a false source IP address, for the purpose of impersonating another computing system.


Māori culture.

In the Māori language, "poi" can mean the physical objects used by the dancers, the choreography itself, or the accompanying music. In Māori culture, poi performance is usually practiced by women. Some legends indicate that it was first used by men to develop wrist flexibility for the use of hand weapons such as the club-like patu, mere, and kotiate, but recent academic study has found no evidence to confirm this story.  Māori poi come in two forms: short, with strings equal to the length of the fingertips to the wrist; and long, with strings equal to the distance from fingertips to shoulder. A performance includes storytelling and singing in conjunction with choreographed poi routines and is often presented alongside other disciplines, such as "waiata a ringa", haka and "titi torea" (included in kapa haka performances). Poi feature in the 1980s hit song "Poi E".

Traditional construction.

Originally, poi were most commonly made from harakeke (New Zealand flax, "Phormium tenax") and raupō ("Typha orientalis"). Makers stripped and scraped flax to provide the muka (inner flax fibre), which was twisted into two strands to make the taura (cord) as well as the aho (ties). A large knot was tied at one end of the cord, around which the core was formed from the pithy middle of the raupō stem. Dampened strips of raupō stems were then wrapped around the ball and tied off around the cord, forming the covering. The other end of the cord was often decorated with a mukamuka, a tassel made from muka formed around a smaller knot. Occasionally, smaller tassels called poi piu were affixed to the base of the poi ball. Construction and design varied widely depending on regional, tribal, and personal preferences.  Another variety of poi is poi tāniko. In this construction, the outer shell was made of finely woven muka using a pattern based on a fishing net; these poi sometimes included strands that were dyed yellow to form a diamond pattern known as Te Karu ō te Atua (the Eye of God).  In the late 19th century and the first half of the 20th century, a cottage industry developed from the manufacture of raupō poi for sale to tourists, especially in the Rotorua area. Tourist-friendly variations included miniature poi that could be worn in buttonholes and as earrings.  Traditional raupō poi are less likely to be used by modern poi artists since traditional materials wear quickly with frequent use. Also, flax and raupō are becoming increasingly difficult to find as the wetlands where they are naturally found have been drained or made into conservation reserves (although traditional harvesting is, generally, allowed by law).  Today, most performance poi are made from durable and readily available modern materials. Cores are often made of foam or crumpled paper, while skins consist of plastic or loomed fabrics, such as tulle. Tassels are usually made of wool.

Modern poi.

Modern poi coexists with traditional Maori poi and enjoys a broader, worldwide audience.  Traditional Maori poi is generally performed in group choreography at cultural events, with vocal and musical accompaniment. By contrast, modern poi is generally performed by individuals, without singing and with less structured choreography. The tools and styles used are more varied. Many people first encounter poi in the form of fire spinning, but fire spinning is just one form of this highly varied art.  Modern poi borrows significantly from other physical arts, including various schools of dance and many object manipulation arts. Poi is practiced around the world and can often be seen at large festivals like Burning Man, European Juggling Convention.  Unlike many physical arts, learning poi does not usually involve formal education. Most spinners learn from each other or teach themselves using DVDs or online resources. A strong sense of community and self-teaching are key elements of modern poi.

Practice poi.

Beginners often learn using a simple pair of practice poi, which are typically constructed from soft materials such as socks or stockings that are weighted with soft household objects such as bean bags, juggling balls, balloons filled with legumes, or small toys. Simple poi can also be constructed from tennis balls and lengths of rope.  More advanced practice poi models can include swivels (for orbital-type tricks), weighted handles (for tosses), or incorporate contact stage balls to enable the spinner to execute contact poi moves (i.e., rolls and fishtails).

Performance poi.

Performers often use poi with bright, contrasting colors to enhance aesthetics and emphasize patterns. Some performance poi also incorporate tails or streamers for visual effect.

Glow poi.

Poi can be performed in the dark to dramatic effect when spinners use poi containing a light source, such as UV-sensitive materials, LED lights, or chemical glow sticks. Glowstringing, or using glowsticks swung from shoelaces, is popular at festivals and raves. It is also noted that while poi focuses on the manipulation of the head (the other side of the cord/chain from where you are holding), glowstringing focuses on the manipulation of the cord.

Meteor.

Meteor were cross-adapted from poi and from a Chinese martial arts weapon called the meteor hammer. The meteor is often constructed similar to poi, or can actually be made using poi. The meteor, however, also incorporates an additional short chain, rope, or bar in the center. This format means that most poi skills will translate to meteor, plus some staff, rope dart and chain whip skills as well.

Fire poi.

Fire poi use wicks made from kevlar or Technora or another flame resistant material for the weighted ends. The wicks are soaked in fuel, set on fire, and then spun for dramatic effect.

Health benefits of poi.

A scientific study conducted by Kate Riegle van West at the University of Auckland showed significant improvements in grip strength, balance, and attention after one month of poi practice. She and others in various countries are working with poi as a therapeutic intervention and helping organisations implement poi wellbeing programmes.

Poi refers to both a style of performing art and the equipment used for engaging in poi performance. As a performance art, poi involves swinging tethered weights through a variety of rhythmical and geometric patterns. Poi artists may also sing or dance while swinging their poi. Poi can be made from various materials with different handles, weights, and effects (such as fire).


Administrative division.

The Moravian-Silesian Region is divided into 6 districts, in which are 300 municipalities (39 are towns): Traditionally, the region has been divided into six districts () which still exist as regional units, though most administration has been shifted to the municipalities with extended competence and the municipalities with commissioned local authority.

Municipalities with extended competence.

Since 1 January 2003, the region has been divided into 22 municipalities with extended competence, which took over most of the administration of the former district authorities. Some of these are further divided into municipalities with commissioned local authority. They are unofficially named little districts (). They are:

Population.

The total population of the region was 1,203,292 (men 49.1%, women 50.9%) in 2019, which makes it the third most populous region in the Czech Republic; 86.9% are Czechs, 3.3% Slovaks, 3.0% Poles, 2.3% Moravians, 0.8% Silesians, 0.3% Germans, and 0.2% Romani, though this last figure might be considerably higher, as Romani often do not officially admit their ethnicity. Around 40.2% of the population is religious, mostly Roman Catholic, while 52.3% declares as atheist.  The population density is 222 inhabitants per km2, which is the second-highest in the country, after the capital Prague. Most of the population is urban, with 59% living in towns with over 20,000 inhabitants. The average age of the population in the region was 42.7 in 2019.

Cities and towns.

The table shows cities and towns in the region with the largest population (as of January 1, 2019):

Economy.

The Gross domestic product (GDP) of the region was 19.6 billion € in 2018, accounting for 9.5% of Czech economic output. GDP per capita adjusted for purchasing power was 23,000 € or 76% of the EU27 average in the same year. The GDP per employee was 74% of the EU average.

Geography.

The geography of the region varies considerably, comprising many land forms from lowlands to high mountains whose summits lie above the tree line.  In the west lie the Hrubý Jeseník mountains, with the highest mountain of the region (and all Moravia), Praděd, rising. The mountains are heavily forested, with many spectacular places and famous spas such as Karlova Studánka and Jeseník, so are very popular with tourists. Also, several ski resorts are there, including Červenohorské Sedlo and Ovčárna, with long-lasting snow cover. The Hrubý Jeseník mountains slowly merge into the rolling hills of the Nízký Jeseníks and Oderské Vrchy, rising to 800 m at Slunečná and 680 m at Fidlův Kopec, respectively.  To the east, the landscape gradually descends into the Moravian Gate ("Moravská brána") valley with the Bečva and Odra Rivers. The former flows to the south-west, the latter to the north-east, where the terrain spreads into the flat Ostrava and Opava basins (Ostravská Opavská pánev), where most of the population lives. The region's heavy industry, which has been in decline for the last decade, is located there, too, benefiting from huge deposits of hard coal. The confluence of the Odra and Olše is the lowest point of the region, at 195 m.  To the south-east, towards the Slovakian border, the landscape sharply rises into the Moravian-Silesian Beskids () (often referred to just as Beskydy), with its highest mountain Lysá Hora at, which is the place with the highest annual rainfall in the Czech Republic, a year. The mountains are heavily forested and serve as a holiday resort for the industrial north.

Nature conservation.

Three large landscape protected areas ("Chráněné krajinné oblasti, CHKO") and a number of smaller nature reserves are in the region. The countryside is mostly man-made, but five natural parks ("Přírodní parky") with preserved natural scenery exist.  The CHKO Jeseníky (with an area of ) lies in the mountain range of the same name in the north east of the region. The terrain is very diverse, with steep slopes and deep valleys. About 80%t of the area is forested, mostly by secondary plantations of Norway spruce, which were seriously damaged by industrial emissions. Due to local weather conditions, the tree line in the area descends to. Alpine meadows can be found in particularly low elevations in the Jeseník mountains. Also, a few peat moors are found there, which are otherwise nonexistent in Moravia.  The CHKO Poodří () lies in the Moravian Gate, in close proximity to the region's capital Ostrava, on the banks of the meandering Odra. It is an area of floodplain forests (one of the last preserved in Central Europe), flooded meadows, and many shallow ponds, on which water birds thrive.  The CHKO Beskydy () is the largest Czech CHKO. It lies in the south-east of the region, along the Slovakian boundary. In the north, the mountains rise steeply from the Ostrava basin, to the south their elevation and severity decreases. Most of the area is forested, mainly by Norway spruce plantations, which are not indigenous to the area. Many of these were severely damaged by emissions from the Ostrava industrial region. There are, however, also a lot of either newly planted or preserved forests of European beech, which in the past covered most of the mountains. The CHKO is typical by its mosaic of forests and highland meadows and pastures with hamlets scattered throughout all the mountains. In recent years bear and wolf sighting have become more frequent.  Altogether, 125 small, protected nature areas cover an area of. The most notable of them is the lime Šipka Cave ("Jeskyně Šipka") near Štramberk, where remnants of a Neanderthal man were discovered in the late 19th century.

Places of interest.

There are three towns with protected historical centers. Příbor, the birthplace of Sigmund Freud, was an important center of education for northern Moravia from the 17th century to the first half of the 20th. Nový Jičín, founded under the castle of Starý Jičín, has a well-preserved central square dating back to the 14th century, with the Žerotínský château nearby. Štramberk is a unique small town nestled in a valley between lime hills, with many timber houses and the Trúba Spire rising on a hill above the town.  Many castles and châteaus are in the region, the most famous being Hradec nad Moravicí, Raduň, Kravaře, and Fulnek. Hukvaldy, in a village of the same name under the Moravian-Silesian Beskids, is one the region's many castle ruins, known for a musical festival dedicated to the composer Leoš Janáček, who was born there. Another well-known castle ruin is Sovinec under the Hrubý Jeseníks.  Due to the importance of industry in the region, many museums display products of local technical development. The Automobile Museum in Kopřivnice exhibits the history of the Tatra cars, The Train Carriage Museum is in Studénka, and the Mining Museum and the former Michal Mine ("Důl Michal") are in Ostrava.

History.

Until 2000, the current region did not exist as such, but was only a part of a larger administrative unit called the North Moravian Region ("Severomoravský kraj"). Six of its districts ("okresy"), Bruntál, Frýdek-Místek, Karviná, Nový Jičín, Opava, and Ostrava, were in 2000 put into the newly established Moravian-Silesian Region. The old North Moravian Region still exists and jurisdiction of some administrative bodies is defined by its borders.

The Moravian-Silesian Region (; ; ), is one of the 14 administrative regions of the Czech Republic. Before May 2001, it was called the Ostrava Region (). The region is located in the north-eastern part of its historical region of Moravia and in most of the Czech part of the historical region of Silesia. The region borders the Olomouc Region to the west and the Zlín Region to the south. It also borders two other countries – Poland (Opole and Silesian Voivodeships) to the north and Slovakia (Žilina Region) to the east.


Administrative divisions.

The Vysočina Region is divided into 5 districts: On a lower level, the region has 704 municipalities, second-most in the country behind the Central Bohemian Region.

Population.

As of 1 January 2019 the population of the Vysočina Region was 509,274, which was the third lowest out of regions in the Czech Republic. 49.7% of population were males, which was the highest share in the Czech Republic. The density of Vysočina Region is the second lowest in the Czech Republic (75 inhabitants per km).  The table shows cities and towns in the region with the largest population (as of January 1, 2019):

Culture.

With three UNESCO World Heritage Sites, the region is home to more of these than any other region of the Czech Republic. These are the historical centre of Telč, the Pilgrimage Church of Saint John of Nepomuk in Žďár nad Sázavou and the Jewish Quarter and St Procopius' Basilica in Třebíč.

Transport.

The Vysočina Region is intersected by the D1 motorway, which passes through Jihlava on the way between Prague and Brno. A total of of motorway is present in the region. The length of operated railway lines in the region is. In 2014 a plan was announced by which a high-speed train, capable of reaching speeds of would run through the region, involving a total of four stops within the territory. Construction is projected to begin in 2025.

Education.

In the Vysočina Region there are two organisations providing further education, namely College of Polytechnics Jihlava and Westmoravian College Třebíč. The College of Polytechnics Jihlava is the only public college in the region, whereas Westmoravian College Třebíč is a private institution, established in 2003.

The Vysočina Region (; "Highlands Region", ), is an administrative unit () of the Czech Republic, located partly in the south-eastern part of the historical region of Bohemia and partly in the south-west of the historical region of Moravia. Its capital is Jihlava.


Structure.

Development.

In embryogenesis, the skeletal system is derived from the mesoderm germ layer. Chondrification (also known as chondrogenesis) is the process by which cartilage is formed from condensed mesenchyme tissue, which differentiates into chondroblasts and begins secreting the molecules (aggrecan and collagen type II) that form the extracellular matrix.  Following the initial chondrification that occurs during embryogenesis, cartilage growth consists mostly of the maturing of immature cartilage to a more mature state. The division of cells within cartilage occurs very slowly, and thus growth in cartilage is usually not based on an increase in size or mass of the cartilage itself. It has been identified that non-coding RNAs (e.g. miRNAs and long non-coding RNAs) as the most important epigenetic modulators can affect the chondrogenesis. This can also justifies the non-coding RNAs' contribution in various cartilage-dependent pathological conditions such as arthritis, and so on.

Articular cartilage.

The articular cartilage function is dependent on the molecular composition of the extracellular matrix (ECM). The ECM consists mainly of proteoglycan and collagens. The main proteoglycan in cartilage is aggrecan, which, as its name suggests, forms large aggregates with hyaluronan. These aggregates are negatively charged and hold water in the tissue. The collagen, mostly collagen type II, constrains the proteoglycans. The ECM responds to tensile and compressive forces that are experienced by the cartilage. Cartilage growth thus refers to the matrix deposition, but can also refer to both the growth and remodeling of the extracellular matrix. Due to the great stress on the patellofemoral joint during resisted knee extension, the articular cartilage of the patella is among the thickest in the human body.

Function.

Mechanical properties.

The mechanical properties of articular cartilage in load-bearing joints such as the knee and hip have been studied extensively at macro, micro, and nano-scales. These mechanical properties include the response of cartilage in frictional, compressive, shear and tensile loading. Cartilage is resilient and displays viscoelastic properties.

Frictional properties.

Lubricin, a glycoprotein abundant in cartilage and synovial fluid, plays a major role in bio-lubrication and wear protection of cartilage.

Repair.

Cartilage has limited repair capabilities: Because chondrocytes are bound in lacunae, they cannot migrate to damaged areas. Therefore, cartilage damage is difficult to heal. Also, because hyaline cartilage does not have a blood supply, the deposition of new matrix is slow. Damaged hyaline cartilage is usually replaced by fibrocartilage scar tissue. Over the last years, surgeons and scientists have elaborated a series of cartilage repair procedures that help to postpone the need for joint replacement.  Biological engineering techniques are being developed to generate new cartilage, using a cellular "scaffolding" material and cultured cells to grow artificial cartilage.

Clinical significance.

Disease.

Several diseases can affect cartilage. Chondrodystrophies are a group of diseases, characterized by the disturbance of growth and subsequent ossification of cartilage. Some common diseases that affect the cartilage are listed below.  Tumors made up of cartilage tissue, either benign or malignant, can occur. They usually appear in bone, rarely in pre-existing cartilage. The benign tumors are called chondroma, the malignant ones chondrosarcoma. Tumors arising from other tissues may also produce a cartilage-like matrix, the best known being pleomorphic adenoma of the salivary glands.  The matrix of cartilage acts as a barrier, preventing the entry of lymphocytes or diffusion of immunoglobulins. This property allows for the transplantation of cartilage from one individual to another without fear of tissue rejection.

Imaging.

Cartilage does not absorb X-rays under normal "in vivo" conditions, but a dye can be injected into the synovial membrane that will cause the x-rays to be absorbed by the dye. The resulting void on the radiographic film between the bone and meniscus represents the cartilage. For In vitro x-ray scans, the outer soft tissue is most likely removed, so the cartilage and air boundary are enough to contrast the presence of cartilage due to the refraction of the x-ray.

Other animals.

Cartilaginous fish.

Cartilaginous fish (chondrichthyes) like sharks, rays and skates have a skeleton composed entirely of cartilage.

Invertebrate cartilage.

Cartilage tissue can also be found among some arthropods such as horseshoe crabs, some mollusks such as marine snails and cephalopods, and some annelids like sabellid polychaetes.  The most studied cartilage in arthropods is the "Limulus polyphemus" branchial cartilage. It is a vesicular cell-rich cartilage due to the large, spherical and vacuolated chondrocytes with no homologies in other arthropods. Other type of cartilage found in "Limulus polyphemus" is the endosternite cartilage, a fibrous-hyaline cartilage with chondrocytes of typical morphology in a fibrous component, much more fibrous than vertebrate hyaline cartilage, with mucopolysaccharides immunoreactive against chondroitin sulfate antibodies. There are homologous tissues to the endosternite cartilage in other arthropods. The embryos of "Limulus polyphemus" express ColA and hyaluronan in the gill cartilage and the endosternite, which indicates that these tissues are fibrillar-collagen-based cartilage. The endosternite cartilage forms close to Hh-expressing ventral nerve cords and expresses ColA and SoxE, a Sox9 analog. This is also seen in gill cartilage tissue.  In cephalopods, the models used for the studies of cartilage are "Octopus vulgaris" and "Sepia officinalis". The cephalopod cranial cartilage is the invertebrate cartilage that shows more resemblance to the vertebrate hyaline cartilage. The growth is though to take place throughout the movement of cells from the periphery to the center. The chondrocytes present different morphologies related to their position in the tissue. The embryos of "Sepia officinalis" express ColAa, ColAb and hyaluronan in the cranial cartilages and other regions of chondrogenesis. This implies that the cartilage is fibrillar-collagen-based. The "Sepia officinalis" embryo expresses hh, whose presence causes ColAa and ColAb expression and is also able to maintain proliferating cells undiferentiated. It has been observed that this species presents the expression SoxD and SoxE, analogs of the vertebrate Sox5/6 and Sox9, in the developing cartilage. The cartilage growth pattern is the same than in vertebrate cartilage.  In gastropods, the interest lies on the odontophore, a cartilaginous structure that supports the radula. The most studied species regarding to this particular tissue is "Busycotypus canaliculatus". The odontophore is a vesicular cell rich cartilage, consisting on vacuolated cells containing myoglobin, surrounded by a low amount of extra cellular matrix containing collagen. The odontophore contains muscle cells along with the chondrocytes in the case of "Lymnaea" and other mollusks that graze vegetation.  The Sabellid polychaetes, or feather duster worms, have cartilage tissue with cellular and matrix specialization supporting their tentacles. They present two distinct extracellular matrix regions. These regions are an acellular fibrous region with a high collagen content, called cartilage-like matrix, and a collagen lacking highly cellularized core, called osteoid-like matrix. The cartilage-like matrix surrounds the osteoid-like matrix. The amount of the acellular fibrous region is variable. The model organisms used in the study of cartilage in sabellid polychaetes are "Potamilla sp" and "Myxicola infundibulum".

Cartilage is a resilient and smooth elastic tissue, a rubber-like padding that covers and protects the ends of long bones at the joints, and is a structural component of the rib cage, the ear, the nose, the bronchial tubes, the intervertebral discs, and many other body components. It is not as hard and rigid as bone, but it is much stiffer and much less flexible than muscle. The matrix of cartilage is made up of glycosaminoglycans, proteoglycans, collagen fibers and, sometimes, elastin.


Location.

The site is located in the "lieu-dit" « La Tène », which is related to the latin "tenuis" evoking the shallow waters of the lake northernmost extremity. It is also the point where the Thielle river leaves the lake and flows in the direction of lake Biel. Being constantly in the vicinity of the lake, the artifacts were marked by the changes in the lake level.

Research history.

Discovery.

The site of La Tène was discovered in 1857 during a period dubbed the "lake dwelling fever" (in french: ""fièvre lacustre""). Pile-dwellings were found on the banks of many Swiss lakes, most of the time with the collaboration of scientists and fishermen. In november 1857, fisherman Hans Kopp was sailing to a Neolithic dwelling near Concise from Lake Biel under orders from Colonel Friedrich Schwab when he spotted an interesting spot near La Tène. He stopped and started investigating, and found within an hour around 40 iron objects, among which 8 spearheads and 12 swords. At that time, that is before the Jura water correction, the lake level was 2.7 m higher, and therefore, the site was 60 to 70 cm underwater. The discoveries made by Kopp went into Friedrich Shwab private collection until his death when they were given to the city of Biel/Bienne.  The first scholars studying the site, colonel Friedrich Schwab and Ferdinand Keller did not not give the site a particular interest. However when Édouard Desor, professor of geology and paleontology heard of the discoveries, around a year later, he immediately realised the potential of La Tène within the Three-age system. In 1866, the first International congress of prehistoric archaeology and anthropology took place in Neuchâtel, Desor advocated the site of La Tène as the reference for the prehistoric Iron Age. A few years later, during a later meeting of the congress in Stockholm, it was decided to divide the Iron Age in Europe in two periods. The first was labelled Hallstatt culture, from a site located in Austria. The second Iron Age (from around 450 BCE to 25 BCE) was named after the site of La Tène, and thus called the La Tène culture.

Early excavations (1880s–1917).

The site quickly got quickly noted for the quality of the artifacts that were found. After Desor and Schwab, La Tène attracted other archaeology amateurs like Alexis Dardel-Thorens or Victor Gross. It also attracted many looters. Around 1870, the first Jura water correction brought the lake level 2.7 m lower, the site which was believed to be exhausted proved to have more to be found. With the lowered water, the site's topography became much easier to understand, this led to the discovery of the remains of two bridges over an old branch of the Thielle river as well as buildings of an undetermined function.  During the 1880s, excavations were conducted by Emile Vouga, the organisation of the site was clarified but the interpretation remained unclear. In 1907, on an initiative of the History and Archaeology society of Neuchâtel with a support from the Canton of Neuchâtel, a well organized excavation started. The excavation, lead by William Wavre and then Paul Vouga (1909) consisted in systematically emptying the old river Thielle bed. This methodical excavation lasted until 1917 and brought to light a large corpus of remarkably culturally similar artifacts. Six years later, Vouga published a monograph in the form of a typological inventory of the excavation discoveries where he did not try to suggest an interpretation of the site's function. The publication was considered disappointing, because Vouga did not use technics that were already known at the time, such as studying the site's stratigraphy. However, Vouga's monograph remains useful for the chronotypological studies of the second Iron Age.  During the following years, the interest for the site declined because of the difficulty of interpretation. However, many hypothesis were proposed, cult site, sacrificial site, theories concerning the large number of bent or broken weapons and the humans and animals skeletons that were found. La Tène remains a particulary difficult site to interpret, mostly due to three majors problems:

Resumed excavations.

The Neuchâtel Department of Cultural Heritage and Archaeology ("Office du Patrimoine et de l'Archéologie, OPAN") organized a rescue excavation when construction works took place in the nearby camping area. The dig took place through already excavated layers backfilled by Paul Vouga and its aims were to obtain a precise stratigraphy and to date the already known structures.  A new project led by professor Gilbert Kaenel was launched in 2007, with the support of the Swiss National Science Foundation, the University of Neuchâtel and the Neuchâtel Department of Cultural Heritage and Archaeology ("Office du Patrimoine et de l'Archéologie, OPAN"). The project aimed to establish an inventory of the artifacts and archives concerning the site, to confront them to the results of the 2003 excavation and to stimulate cooperation between the museums in possession of the La Tène discoveries as well as encouraging works about certains categories of artifacts. The project has led to the publications of the La Tène collections from the Musée d'Art et d'Histoire of Geneva, the Bern Historical Museum and the British Museum in London based on a model establish by Thierry Lejars for the Schwab museum in Biel/Bienne.

Discoveries.

The excavations on the site of La Tène led to the discovery of around 2500 artifacts, including offensives and defensives weapons in iron or wood (swords and scabbard, spears, arrowheads, a bow and shields) tools for industry and agriculture (axes, scythes, knives and a wooden plow), horse harnesses, rings and brochs in iron or bronze, pieces of cloth, a few pots and different celtic and roman coinage.  The artifacts discovered in La Tène are now dispersed around the globe, many of which have been illegally sold, which means completing a thorough inventory is extremely hard. Nonetheless, the majority of the objects is kept between the Swiss National Museum in Zürich and the archaeology museum of the Canton of Neuchâtel, the Laténium in Hauterive. Part of Colonel Schwab collection is kept in the Schwab Museum in Biel/Bienne and has been the subject of a thorough monograph.

La Tène is a protohistoric archaeological site on the northern shore of Lake Neuchâtel, Switzerland. Dating to the second part of the European Iron Age it is the type site of the La Tène culture, which dates to about 450 BCE to the 1st century BCE and extends from Ireland to Anatolia and from Portugal to Czechia. La Tène is listed as a property of national significance.


Biography.

Sandrart was born in Frankfurt am Main, but the family originated from Mons/Bergen. According to his dictionary of art called the "Teutsche Academie", he learned to read and write from the son of Theodor de Bry, Johann Theodoor de Brie and his associate Matthäus Merian, but at age 15 was so eager to learn more of the art of engraving, that he walked from Frankfurt to Prague to become a pupil of Aegidius Sadeler of the Sadeler family. Sadeler in turn urged him to paint, whereupon he travelled to Utrecht in 1625 to become a pupil of Gerrit van Honthorst, and through him he met Rubens when he brought a visit to Honthorst in 1627, to recruit him for collaboration on part of his Marie de' Medici cycle. Honthorst took Sandrart along with him when he travelled to London. There he worked with Honthorst and spent time making copies of Holbein portraits for the portrait gallery of Henry Howard, 22nd Earl of Arundel.  Making all of those copies only served to arouse more curiosity in the young adventurer, and in 1627 Sandrart booked a passage on a ship from London to Venice, where he was welcomed by Jan Lis (whose Bentvueghels "bent" name was "Pan"), and Nicolao Renier. He then set out for Bologna, where he was met by his cousin on his father's side Michael le Blond, a celebrated engraver. With him, he crossed the mountains to Florence, and from there on to Rome, where they met Pieter van Laer (whose bent name was "Bamboccio"). Sandrart became famous as a portrait-painter. After a few years he undertook a tour of Italy, traveling to Naples, where he drew studies of Mount Vesuvius, believed to be the entrance to the Elysian fields described by Virgil. From there he traveled to Malta and beyond, searching for literary sights to see and paint, and wherever he went he paid his way by selling portraits. Only when he was done traveling did he finally return to Frankfurt, where he married Johanna de Milkau.  Afraid of political unrest and plague, he moved to Amsterdam with his wife in 1637.

Painting career.

In Amsterdam he worked as a painter of genre works, and portraits. He won a very good following as a painter, winning a lucrative commission for a large commemorative piece for the state visit by Maria of Medici in 1638, which hangs in the Rijksmuseum. This piece was commissioned by the Bicker Company of the Amsterdam "schutterij", and shows the members posing around a bust of Maria of Medici, with a poem by Joost van den Vondel hanging below it. The state visit was a big deal for Amsterdam, as it meant the first formal recognition of the Dutch Republic of the seven provinces by France. However, Maria herself was fleeing Richelieu at the time and never returned to France. This piece cemented his reputation as a leading painter, and in 1645 Sandrart decided to cash in and go home when he received an inheritance in Stockau, outside Ingolstadt, he sold his things and moved there. He received 3000 guilders for 2 books of his Italian drawings, that according to Houbraken were resold in his lifetime for 4555 guilders.  Though he rebuilt the old homestead, it was burned by the French. He sold it and moved to Augsburg, where he painted for the family of Maximilian I, the Elector of Bavaria. When his wife died in 1672, Sandrart moved to Nuremberg, where he married Hester Barbara Bloemaart, the daughter of a magistrate there. This is where he started writing.  His large 1649 painting "Peace-Banquet" commemorating the Peace of Münster, now hangs in Nuremberg's town hall.

Teutsche Academie.

He is best known as an author of books on art, some of them in Latin, and especially for his historical work, the "Teutsche Academie", published between 1675 and 1680, and in more recent editions. This work is an educational compilation of short biographies of artists, that was inspired by Karel van Mander's similar "Schilder-boeck". Both Sandrart and van Mander based their Italian sections on the work of Giorgio Vasari. His work in turn became one of the primary sources for Arnold Houbraken's "Schouburg", who wrote a little poem about him:  Sandrart published the first biography of the German artist Matthias Grünewald, and incorrectly bestowed on the artist the name "Grünewald" by which he is now popularly known. Sandrart also copied a mistake in Cornelis de Bie's "Het Gulden Cabinet" on Hendrick ter Brugghen whom De Bie has erroneously called "Verbrugghen". De Bie corrects this mistake in a manuscript and attacks Sandrart for having copied the mistake without proper research in a later work of his.

Joachim von Sandrart (12 May 1606 – 14 October 1688) was a German Baroque art-historian and painter, active in Amsterdam during the Dutch Golden Age. He is most significant for his collection of biographies of Dutch and German artists the "Teutsche Academie", published between 1675 and 1680.


History.

The Romans used the island mainly for raw materials, harvesting timber, and mining alum and sulfur. These were the principal activities on the island until the end of the nineteenth century.  After the Bourbon rule collapsed in 1860, the Scottish industrialist and philanthropist James Stevenson bought the northern part of the island. He then built a villa, reopened the local mines, and planted vineyards for making Malmsey wine. Stevenson lived on Vulcano until the last major eruption on the island happened in 1888. This eruption lasted the better part of two years, by which time Stevenson had sold all of his property to the local populace. He never returned to the island. His villa is still intact.

Geology.

The volcanic activity in the region is largely the result of the northward-moving African Plate meeting the Eurasian Plate. There are three volcanic centres on the island:  Vulcano has been quiet since the eruption of the Fossa cone on 3 August 1888 to 1890, which deposited about of pyroclastic material on the summit. The style of eruption seen on the Fossa cone is called a Vulcanian eruption, being the explosive emission of pyroclastic fragments of viscous magmas caused by the high viscosity preventing gases from escaping easily. This eruption of Vulcano was carefully documented at the time by Giuseppe Mercalli. Mercalli described the eruptions as "...explosions sounding like a cannon at irregular intervals..." As a result, vulcanian eruptions are based on his description. A typical vulcanian eruption can hurl blocks of solid material several hundreds of metres from the vent. Mercalli reported that blocks from the 1888–1890 eruption fell into the sea between Vulcano and Lipari, and several that had fallen on the island of Vulcano were photographed by him or his assistants. Volcanic gas emissions from this volcano are measured by a multicomponent gas analyzer system, which detects degassing of rising magmas before an eruption, improving prediction of volcanic activity.  A survey on local groundwater occurred during 1995–1997 showed temperatures up to 49–75 °C, sodium sulfate-chloride chemical composition, and near neutral pH in the water wells closest to the slopes of the volcanic cone. This is mainly due to condensation onto the slopes of the volcanic cone and water-rock interaction buffering.

Population.

At the 2011 Census, Vulcano had a population of 953 residents, living in three localities – Vulcano Porto, Vulcano Piano and Vulcanello.

Biology.

Since Vulcano island has volcanic activity, it is a place where thermophiles and hyperthermophiles are likely to be found. In fact, the hyperthermophilic archaea "Pyrococcus furiosus" was described for the first time when it was isolated from sediments of this island by Gerhard Fiala and Karl Stetter.

Mythology.

The Ancient Greeks named this island "Therasía" (Θηρασία) and "Thérmessa" (Θέρμεσσα, source of heat). The island appeared in their myths as the private foundry of the Olympian god Hephaestus, the patron of blacksmiths. Their myths noted two more of his foundries, at Etna and Olympus. Strabo also mentions Thermessa as "sacred place of Hephaestus" (ἱερὰ Ἡφαίστου), but it is not certain whether this was a third name for the island, or merely an adjective.  Similarly, the Romans believed that Vulcano was the chimney of their god Vulcan's workshop and, therefore, named the island after him. According to the Roman myths, the island had grown due to his periodic clearing of cinders and ashes from his forge. They also explained earthquakes that either preceded or accompanied the explosions of ash as being due to Vulcan making weapons for their god Mars for his armies to wage war.

Appearances in contemporary culture.

The motion picture "Vulcano" (released in the U.S. as, "Volcano") was filmed on Vulcano and the nearby island of Salina between 1949 and 1950.  An asteroid is named for this island, 4464 Vulcano.  The island of Vulcano is featured in the "Battle Tendency" story arc of the manga "JoJo's Bizarre Adventure" by Hirohiko Araki, as the scene of the final clash between the protagonist Joseph Joestar and the antagonist Kars, leader of the Pillar Men.  The American attorney and writer, Richard Paul Roe, asserts that the play "The Tempest" by William Shakespeare is set on the island of Vulcano, rather than the more authoritative interpretation that the setting was based on reports about Bermuda in the Americas and a hurricane encountered there.  The island is referred to by the Da Vinci character in the episode "Concerning Flight" while speaking to Tuvok, an alien from a planet named Vulcan.

Vulcano () or Vulcan is a small volcanic island in the Tyrrhenian Sea, about north of Sicily and located at the southernmost end of the seven Aeolian Islands. The island is in area, rises to above sea level, and it contains several volcanic calderas, including one of the four active volcanoes in Italy that are not submarine.


History.

In medieval times, swinging bells were first used as a way of notifying people of imminent church services, and for such as fires, storms, wars and other secular events.  However, the use of bells to play melodic musical compositions originated in the 16th century in the Low Countries. The first carillon was in Flanders, where a "fool" performed music on the bells of Oudenaarde Town Hall in 1510 by using a baton keyboard.  Major figures in the evolution of the modern carillon were Pieter and François Hemony working in the 17th century. They are credited as being the greatest carillon bell founders in the history of the Low Countries. They developed the carillon, in collaboration with Jacob van Eyck, into a full-fledged musical instrument by casting the first tuned carillon in 1644, which was installed in Zutphen's Wijnhuistoren tower.

Musical characteristics.

The World Carillon Federation defines a carillon as "a musical instrument composed of tuned bronze bells which are played from a baton keyboard. Only those carillons having at least 23 bells will be taken into consideration. Instruments built before 1940 and composed of between 15 and 22 bells may be designated as 'historical carillons.'"  The Guild of Carillonneurs in North America GCNA defines a carillon as "a musical instrument consisting of at least two octaves of carillon bells arranged in chromatic series and played from a keyboard permitting control of expression through variation of touch. A carillon bell is a cast bronze cup-shaped bell whose partial tones are in such harmonious relationship to each other as to permit many such bells to be sounded together in varied chords with harmonious and concordant effect." The GCNA defines a "traditional carillon" as one played from a carillon mechanical (not electrified) baton keyboard, and a "non-traditional carillon" as a musical instrument with bells, but played by automated mechanical or electro-mechanical means, or from an electrical or electronic keyboard.  Since each note is produced by an individual bell, a carillon's musical range is determined by the number of bells it has. Different names are assigned to instruments based on the number of bells they comprise: The Riverside Carillon in New York City has the largest tuned carillon bell in the world, which sounds C (two octaves below middle C).  Travelling or mobile carillons are not placed in a tower, but can be transported. Some of them can even be played indoors—in a concert hall or church—like the mobile carillon of Frank Steijns.  Poorly tuned bells often give an "out of tune" impression and also can be out of tune with themselves. This is due to the unusual harmonic characteristics of foundry bells, which have strong overtones above and below the fundamental frequency.  There is no standard pitch range for the carillon. In general, a concert carillon will have a minimum of 48 bells. The range of any given instrument usually depends on funds available for the fabrication and installation of the instrument: more money allows more bells to be cast, especially the larger, more costly ones. Older carillons can be transposing instruments, generally transposing upward. Most modern instruments sound at concert pitch. A carillon clavier has both a manual and a pedal keyboard.

Carillon music.

Carillon music is typically written on two staves. Notes written in the bass clef are generally played by the feet. Notes written in the treble clef are played with the hands. Pedals range from the lowest note (the bourdon) and may continue up to two and half octaves. In the North American Standard keyboard, all notes can be played on the manual.  Because of the acoustic peculiarities of a carillon bell (the prominence of the minor third, and the lack of damping of sound), music written for other instruments needs to be arranged specifically for the carillon.  The combination of carillon and other instruments, while possible, is generally not a happy marriage. The carillon is generally far too loud to perform with most other concert instruments. The great exceptions to this are some late twentieth and early twenty-first century compositions involving electronic media and carillon. In these compositions, sound amplification is able to match the extreme dynamic range of the carillon and, in the case of sensitive composers, even the most delicate effects are possible. Brass music is often heard together with a (traveling) carillon.

Carillonneurs.

The carillonneur or carillonist is the title of the musician who plays the carillon. The carillonneur usually sits in a cabin beneath the bells and plays with the fifth (little) finger pressed down with a loosely closed fist, on a series of baton-like keys arranged in the same pattern as a piano keyboard. The batons are almost never played with the fingers as one does a piano, though this is sometimes used as a special carillon playing technique. The keys activate levers and wires that connect directly to the bells' clappers; thus, as with a piano, the carillonneur can vary the volume of each note according to the force applied to the key. In addition to the manual keys, the heavier bells are also played with a pedal keyboard.

Carillon schools.

The world's first international carillon school, the Royal Carillon School "Jef Denyn", is in Mechelen, Belgium, where the study of campanology originated. Other carillon schools include the Netherlands Carillon School in Amersfoort.  In North America, one can study the carillon at the University of California, Berkeley, the University of California, Santa Barbara, the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor (which is home to two of only twenty-three grand carillons in the world), the University of Florida, the University of Denver's Lamont School of Music, and Missouri State University, all of which offer complete courses of study. One can also take private lessons at many carillon locations, and there are universities that offer limited credit for carillon performance, such as Clemson University, the University of Kansas, Iowa State University, Grand Valley State University, Marquette University and the University of Rochester.  The George Cadbury Carillon School was opened in 2006 and is the only carillon school in the UK.  Another international carillon school, the Scandinavian Carillon School in Løgumkloster, Denmark, was established in 1979. It serves mainly Scandinavians, but cooperates with other carillon schools at the university level with student exchange.  A number of universities and undergraduate institutions make use of carillons as part of their tradition. Princeton University houses a carillon of 67 bells which can be heard every Sunday afternoon with performances from Lisa Lonie. Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, is home to one of the world's only completely student-led guild of carillonneurs. Members of this group are selected by audition, following an intensive five-week training program for potential recruits. The Yale Memorial Carillon can be heard from the university's iconic Harkness Tower twice a day. A similar student-run program is that of the University of Texas at Austin. Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts, completed its carillon of 48 bells in 2009, ninety years after the first bells were hung in 1919. Middlebury College in Vermont has a 48-bell carillon located in the steeple of the college's Mead Memorial Chapel. The University of Toronto in Canada has a 51 bell carillon located at Soldiers' Tower, and is the only Canadian university with a functioning carillon.

A carillon ( or ; ) is a musical instrument typically housed in the bell tower (belfry) of a church or municipal building. The instrument consists of at least 23 cast bronze, cup-shaped bells, which are played serially to produce a melody, or together to play a chord. A traditional manual carillon is played by striking a keyboard—the stick-like keys of which are called batons—with the fists, and by pressing the keys of a pedal keyboard with the feet. The keys mechanically activate levers and wires connected to metal clappers which strike the bells.


Purposes.

An amnesty may be extended when the authority decides that bringing citizens into compliance with a law is more important than punishing them for past offenses. Amnesty after a war helps end a conflict. While laws against treason, sedition, etc. are retained to discourage future traitors during future conflicts, it makes sense to forgive past offenders, after the enemy no longer exists which had attracted their support but a significant number remains in flight from authorities. Amnesty is often used to get people to turn in contraband, as in the case of China's gun restrictions, or the Kansas City ban on pit bulls. Advantages of using amnesty may include avoiding expensive prosecutions (especially when massive numbers of violators are involved); prompting violators to come forward who might otherwise have eluded authorities; and promoting reconciliation between offenders and society. An example of the latter was the amnesty that was granted to conscientious objectors and draft evaders in the wake of the Vietnam War in the 1970s, in an effort by President Carter to heal war wounds, given that both the war and the draft were over.  An example of an argument made for amnesty for illegal immigrants is that they would be allowed to qualify for higher paying jobs, scholarships, and other services. According to the Center for Study of Immigration Integration, if California alone were to adopt an amnesty program, they would benefit by $16 billion (Pastor, 2010).  With amnesty, immigrants can seek out higher education. A RAND study found that, by the age of 30, a Mexican immigrant woman who becomes a legal resident can obtain a college degree. With a college degree she will pay $5,300 more in taxes and cost $3,900 less in government expenses each year compared to a high-school dropout with similar characteristics. Workers who lacked a high-school diploma in 2006 earned an average of only $419 per week and had an unemployment rate of 6.8 percent. In contrast, workers with a bachelor's degree earned $962 per week and had an unemployment rate of 2.3 percent, while those with a doctorate earned $1,441 and had an unemployment rate of only 1.4 percent (Gonzales, 2010).

Controversy.

Amnesty can at times raise questions of justice. An example was the Ugandan government's offer not to prosecute alleged war criminal Joseph Kony, in hopes that further bloodshed would be avoided. David Smock noted, "The downside of it is the impunity that it implies; that people can commit atrocities and say that they will only stop if they are given amnesty..."  A controversial issue in the United States is whether illegal immigrants should be granted some form of amnesty. It is proposed that illegal immigrants be able to come forward and immediately receive probationary status. California Republican Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger said an amnesty program similar to the one the federal government undertook in the late 1980s would be ill-advised today. It just didn't work. "It backfired big-time. It sent the wrong message: You come here illegally, and then we go and give you amnesty. So then, the next million come and they say, 'Hey, we get amnesty, this is really terrific'."  Some allege that at the national level an amnesty program would cost $2.6 trillion. This would only include the costs for the first year. The Federal Government would need to hire additional workers to help register immigrants, increasing costs for labor and or facilities. It is also alleged that an amnesty program would draw far more immigrants into the U.S. to receive amnesty, so the costs would continue to increase.  Some allege that due to the large number of illegal immigrants residing in the U.S., the government had to hire outside contractors. This led to mass cases of fraudulent activity. Illegal immigrants were paying off workers to falsify information, grant amnesty for family and or friends, and providing other relevant services.  Controversies also raise towards amnesties given to alleged perpetrators of the most serious crimes of international law (or crimes of the "Jus Cogens" which include genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and aggression). Courts have rejected amnesties for such crimes, such as the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and the Special Court for Sierra Leone. But scholars have suggested that there should be room for amnesties which were imperative necessities to achieve peace and accompanied by effective Truth and Reconciliation Commissions. One particular case was in Uruguay: the controversial Law on the Expiration of the Punitive Claims of the State pretended to put an end to unsolved issues deriving from 12 years of civic-military dictatorship; local human rights organizations challenged that law and called a referendum in 1989 which confirmed the law by 56% of the popular vote.

Amnesty (from the Greek ἀμνηστία "amnestia", "forgetfulness, passing over") is defined as "A pardon extended by the government to a group or class of people, usually for a political offense; the act of a sovereign power officially forgiving certain classes of people who are subject to trial but have not yet been convicted." An amnesty constitutes more than a pardon, in so much as it obliterates all legal remembrance of the offense. Amnesty is increasingly used to express the idea of "freedom" and to refer to when prisoners can go free.


Historical development.

Catholic priest Nicholas Steno established the theoretical basis for stratigraphy when he introduced the law of superposition, the principle of original horizontality and the principle of lateral continuity in a 1669 work on the fossilization of organic remains in layers of sediment.  The first practical large-scale application of stratigraphy was by William Smith in the 1790s and early 19th century. Known as the "Father of English geology", Smith recognized the significance of strata or rock layering and the importance of fossil markers for correlating strata; he created the first geologic map of England. Other influential applications of stratigraphy in the early 19th century were by Georges Cuvier and Alexandre Brongniart, who studied the geology of the region around Paris.

Lithostratigraphy.

Variation in rock units, most obviously displayed as visible layering, is due to physical contrasts in rock type (lithology). This variation can occur vertically as layering (bedding), or laterally, and reflects changes in environments of deposition (known as facies change). These variations provide a lithostratigraphy or lithologic stratigraphy of the rock unit. Key concepts in stratigraphy involve understanding how certain geometric relationships between rock layers arise and what these geometries imply about their original depositional environment. The basic concept in stratigraphy, called the law of superposition, states: in an undeformed stratigraphic sequence, the oldest strata occur at the base of the sequence.  Chemostratigraphy studies the changes in the relative proportions of trace elements and isotopes within and between lithologic units. Carbon and oxygen isotope ratios vary with time, and researchers can use those to map subtle changes that occurred in the paleoenvironment. This has led to the specialized field of isotopic stratigraphy.  Cyclostratigraphy documents the often cyclic changes in the relative proportions of minerals (particularly carbonates), grain size, thickness of sediment layers (varves) and fossil diversity with time, related to seasonal or longer term changes in palaeoclimates.

Biostratigraphy.

Biostratigraphy or paleontologic stratigraphy is based on fossil evidence in the rock layers. Strata from widespread locations containing the same fossil fauna and flora are said to be correlatable in time. Biologic stratigraphy was based on William Smith's principle of faunal succession, which predated, and was one of the first and most powerful lines of evidence for, biological evolution. It provides strong evidence for the formation (speciation) and extinction of species. The geologic time scale was developed during the 19th century, based on the evidence of biologic stratigraphy and faunal succession. This timescale remained a relative scale until the development of radiometric dating, which gave it and the stratigraphy it was based on an absolute time framework, leading to the development of chronostratigraphy.  One important development is the Vail curve, which attempts to define a global historical sea-level curve according to inferences from worldwide stratigraphic patterns. Stratigraphy is also commonly used to delineate the nature and extent of hydrocarbon-bearing reservoir rocks, seals, and traps of petroleum geology.

Chronostratigraphy.

Chronostratigraphy is the branch of stratigraphy that places an absolute age, rather than a relative age on rock strata. The branch is concerned with deriving geochronological data for rock units, both directly and inferentially, so that a sequence of time-relative events that created the rocks formation can be derived. The ultimate aim of chronostratigraphy is to place dates on the sequence of deposition of all rocks within a geological region, and then to every region, and by extension to provide an entire geologic record of the Earth.  A gap or missing strata in the geological record of an area is called a stratigraphic hiatus. This may be the result of a halt in the deposition of sediment. Alternatively, the gap may be due to removal by erosion, in which case it may be called a stratigraphic vacuity. It is called a "hiatus" because deposition was "on hold" for a period of time. A physical gap may represent both a period of non-deposition and a period of erosion. A geologic fault may cause the appearance of a hiatus.

Magnetostratigraphy.

Magnetostratigraphy is a chronostratigraphic technique used to date sedimentary and volcanic sequences. The method works by collecting oriented samples at measured intervals throughout a section. The samples are analyzed to determine their detrital remanent magnetism (DRM), that is, the polarity of Earth's magnetic field at the time a stratum was deposited. For sedimentary rocks this is possible because, as they fall through the water column, very fine-grained magnetic minerals (< 17 μm) behave like tiny compasses, orienting themselves with Earth's magnetic field. Upon burial, that orientation is preserved. For volcanic rocks, magnetic minerals, which form in the melt, orient themselves with the ambient magnetic field, and are fixed in place upon crystallization of the lava.  Oriented paleomagnetic core samples are collected in the field; mudstones, siltstones, and very fine-grained sandstones are the preferred lithologies because the magnetic grains are finer and more likely to orient with the ambient field during deposition. If the ancient magnetic field were oriented similar to today's field (North Magnetic Pole near the North Rotational Pole), the strata would retain a normal polarity. If the data indicate that the North Magnetic Pole were near the South Rotational Pole, the strata would exhibit reversed polarity.  Results of the individual samples are analyzed by removing the natural remanent magnetization (NRM) to reveal the DRM. Following statistical analysis, the results are used to generate a local magnetostratigraphic column that can then be compared against the Global Magnetic Polarity Time Scale.  This technique is used to date sequences that generally lack fossils or interbedded igneous rocks. The continuous nature of the sampling means that it is also a powerful technique for the estimation of sediment-accumulation rates.

Stratigraphy is a branch of geology concerned with the study of rock layers (strata) and layering (stratification). It is primarily used in the study of sedimentary and layered volcanic rocks. Stratigraphy has two related subfields: lithostratigraphy (lithologic stratigraphy) and biostratigraphy (biologic stratigraphy).


Characteristics.

Castorids are medium-sized mammals, although large compared with most other rodents. They are semiaquatic, with sleek bodies and webbed hind feet, and are more agile in the water than on land. Their tails are flattened and scaly, adaptations that help them manoeuvre in the water. Castorids live in small family groups that each occupy a specific territory, based around a lodge and dam constructed from sticks and mud. They are herbivores, feeding on leaves and grasses in the summer, and woody plants such as willow in the winter. They have powerful incisors and the typical rodent dental formula:

Evolution.

The earliest castorids belong to the genus "Agnotocastor", known from the late Eocene and Oligocene of North America and Asia. Other early castorids included genera such as "Steneofiber", from the Oligocene and Miocene of Europe, the earliest member of the subfamily Castorinae, which contains castorids closely related to living beavers. Their teeth were not well suited to gnawing wood, suggesting this habit evolved at a later point, but they do appear adapted to semiaquatic living. Later, such early species evolved into forms such as "Palaeocastor" from the Miocene of Nebraska. "Palaeocastor" was about the size of a muskrat, and dug corkscrew-shaped burrows up to deep.  Giant forms evolved in the Pleistocene, including "Trogontherium" in Europe, and "Castoroides" in North America. The latter animal was as large as a black bear, yet had a brain only marginally larger than that of modern beavers. Its shape suggests it would have been a good swimmer, and it probably lived in swampy habitats.

Taxonomy.

McKenna and Bell divided Castoridae into two subfamilies, Castoroidinae and Castorinae. More recent studies have recognized two additional subfamilies of basal castorids, Agnotocastorinae and Palaeocastorinae, which is followed here. Within the family, Castorinae and Castoroidinae are sister taxa; they share a more recent common ancestor with each other than with members of the other two subfamilies. Both subfamilies include semiaquatic species capable of constructing dams. The Palaeocastorinae include beavers that are interpreted as fossorial (burrowing), as are nothodipoidins and "Migmacastor". The following taxonomy is based on Korth and Rybczynski, with preference given to the latter where these differ.

The family Castoridae contains the two living species of beavers and their fossil relatives. This was once a highly diverse group of rodents, but is now restricted to a single genus, "Castor".


Biography.

Early life and education, 1901–20.

Rose Ausländer was born in Czernowitz, Bukovina (now Chernivtsi, Ukraine), to a German-speaking Jewish family. At the time Chernowitz was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Her father Sigmund (Süssi) Scherzer (1871–1920) was from a small town near Czernowitz, and her mother Kathi Etie Rifke Binder (1873–1947) was born in Czernowitz to a German-speaking family. From 1907 and 1919, she went to school in Czernowitz. In 1916 her family fled the Russian Occupying Army to Vienna but returned to Cernăuți, Bukovina which was given the name 'Cernăuți' and became part of the Kingdom of Romania after 1918.  In 1919, she began studying literature and philosophy in Cernăuți. At this time, she developed a lifelong interest in the philosopher Constantin Brunner. After her father died in 1920 she left university.

New York, 1921–27.

In 1921, she migrated to the United States with her university friend, and future husband, Ignaz Ausländer. In Minneapolis, she worked as an editor for the German language newspaper "Westlicher Herold" and was a collaborator of the anthology "Amerika-Herold-Kalender", in which she published her first poems. In 1922, she moved with Ausländer to New York City, where they were married on October 19, 1923. She separated from Ausländer three years later aged 25, but kept his last name. She became an American citizen in 1926. In the cycle of poems "New York" (1926/27), the expressionist pathos of her early work yields to a cool-controlled language of Neue Sachlichkeit. Her interest in the ideas of the Spinoza inspired philosopher Constantin Brunner, next to Plato, Sigmund Freud and others is a topic of later essays, that have disappeared.

Cernauti and New York 1926–31.

From 1926-28 she returned home to Cernauti to take care of her sick mother. There, she met graphologist Helios Hecht, who became her partner. In 1928 she went back to New York with Hecht. She published poems in the "New Yorker Volkszeitung" and in the Cernauti-based socialist daily Vorwärts until 1931.

Cernauti 1931–45.

In 1931, she returned to look after her mother again, working for the newspaper "Czernowitzer Morgenblatt" until 1940. She lost her US citizenship by 1934, because she had not been in the US for more than 3 years. She separated from Hecht that year. She was in a relationship with Hecht until 1936, when she left for Bucharest.  At the beginning of 1939, she traveled to Paris and New York, but once more returned to Czernowitz to take care of her sick mother. In 1939, her first volume of poems, "Der Regenbogen" ("The Rainbow") was published with the help of her mentor, the Bukovinian writer Alfred Margul-Sperber. Even though critics received it favorably, it was not accepted by the public. The greater part of the print run was destroyed when Nazi Germany occupied Cernauti in 1941.  From October 1941–44, she worked as a forced laborer (Zwangsarbeiter) in the ghetto of Cernauti. She remained there with her mother and brother for two years, and another year in hiding so as not to be deported to the Nazi concentration camps.  In the spring of 1943 Ausländer met poet Paul Celan in the Cernauti ghetto. He later used Ausländer's image of "black milk" of a 1939 poem in his well-known poem "Todesfuge" published in 1948. Ausländer herself is recorded as saying that Celan's usage was "self-explanatory, as the poet may take all material to transmute in his own poetry. It's an honour to me that a great poet found a stimulus in my own modest work". 4 In the spring of 1944, the Bukowina became part of the Soviet Union. Ausländer worked in the Cernauti city library until September 1944.

New York, 1944–66.

In October 1944, Ausländer returned to live in New York. In 1947, her mother died and Ausländer suffered a physical collapse. From 1948 to 1956, Ausländer wrote her poems only in English. From 1953–61, she made a living by working as a foreign correspondent at a shipping company in New York, and obtained US citizenship again in 1948.  While attending the New York City Writer's Conference at Wagner College, Staten Island, Ausländer met poet Marianne Moore. This was the beginning of a friendship documented in several letters, in which Moore advised Ausländer on her writing and finally encouraged her to return to writing poetry in German. Several of Ausländer's English poems are dedicated to Moore.  In 1957, she met Paul Celan in Paris again, with whom she discussed modern poetry, poem and shoah. She returned to her mother tongue. Celan encouraged her "to radically change her poetic style, which had been solemn and plangent, influenced by Hölderlin and Trakl, yielding to a no-frills, ever more musical-rhythmic clarity". In 1963, she spent time in Vienna, where she published her first book since 1939. The public welcomed "Blinder Sommer" ("Blind summer") enthusiastically.

Düsseldorf, 1967–88.

In 1967, she remigrated to Europe. After an unsuccessful attempt to settle in Vienna, she finally moved to Düsseldorf. She first lived in a pension on Poensgenstraße 9 near the rail road station. She was invited to read her poems at the legendary Oberkasseler pub Sassafras. Here she created her expansive late work in rapid sequence and several major pushes. After an accident she moved in the Nelly Sachs Home for the elderly starting in 1972. Severely affected by arthritis and bedridden from 1978 onward she still created a large part of her work, dictating her texts until 1986, as she was not able to write by herself. She died in Düsseldorf in 1988.

Works.

Ausländer wrote more than 3000 poems, essentially revolving around the topics of "Heimat" (home land, Bukowina), childhood, relationship to her mother, Judaism (Holocaust, exile), language (as a medium of expression and of home), love, ageing and death. With any poem written after 1945 one has to consider that it is influenced by her experience of the Holocaust whether it directly deals with the topic or not. Ausländer lived in the hope that writing was still possible, not the least because she derived her identity from writing: "Wer bin ich / wenn ich nicht schreibe?" (Who am I / if not writing?).

Rose Ausländer (born Rosalie Beatrice Scherzer; May 11, 1901 – January 3, 1988) was a Jewish poet writing in German and English. Born in Czernowitz in the Bukovina, she lived through its tumultuous history of belonging to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Kingdom of Romania, and eventually the Soviet Union.


Biography.

Moses (Moyses) Baruch Auerbach was born in Nordstetten (now Horb am Neckar) in the Kingdom of Württemberg. He attended Eberhard-Ludwigs-Gymnasium. He was intended for the ministry, but after studying philosophy at Tübingen, Munich and Heidelberg, and becoming estranged from Jewish orthodoxy by the study of Spinoza, he devoted himself to literature. While a student in Heidelberg and under the pseudonym “Theobald Chauber,” he produced a "Biography of Frederick the Great" (1834–36).  Another early publication was entitled "Das Judentum und die neueste Litteratur" (Judaism and Recent Literature; 1836), and was to be followed by a series of novels taken from Jewish history. Of this intended series he actually published, with considerable success, "Spinoza" (1837) and "Dichter und Kaufmann" (Poet and Merchant; 1839). His romance on the life of Spinoza adheres so closely to fact that it may be read with equal advantage as a novel or as a biography. In 1841, he created a translation of Spinoza's works. In 1842, he wrote "Der gebildete Bürger" (The educated citizen), an attempt to popularize philosophical subjects.  But real fame and popularity came to him after 1843, when he began to occupy himself with the life of the common people which forms the subject of his best-known works. That year he published "Schwarzwälder Dorfgeschichten" (Black Forest Village Stories; 1843) which was his first great success, widely translated, and expressing with a sympathetic realism the memories and scenes of youth. In his later books, of which "Auf der Höhe" (On the Heights; 1865) is perhaps the most characteristic, and certainly the most famous, he revealed an unrivaled insight into the soul of the Southern German country folk, and especially of the peasants of the Black Forest and the Bavarian Alps. His descriptions are remarkable for their fresh realism, graceful style and humour. In addition to these qualities, his last books are marked by great subtlety of psychological analysis. "Auf der Höhe" was first published at Stuttgart in 1861, and has been translated into several languages.  Auerbach died at Cannes shortly before his 70th birthday. His life was uneventful, though embittered at the close by the growth of German anti-Semitism.

Berthold Auerbach (28 February 1812 – 8 February 1882) was a German-Jewish poet and author. He was the founder of the German "tendency novel", in which fiction is used as a means of influencing public opinion on social, political, moral, and religious questions.


Characteristics.

The Andean mountain cat has an ashy-gray fur, a gray head, ears and face. The areas around the lips and cheeks are white; two dark brown lines run from the corners of the eyes across the cheeks. There are some black spots on the forelegs, yellowish-brown blotches on the flanks, and up to two narrow, dark rings on the hind limbs. The long bushy tail has 6–9 rings, which are dark brown to black. The markings of juveniles are darker and smaller than those of adults. The skulls of adult specimens range in length from and are larger than those of the pampas cat and domestic cat.  The Andean mountain cat has a black nose and lips, and rounded ears. On the back and on the tail, the hair is long. Its rounded footprints are long and wide. Its pads are covered with hair.  Adult specimens range from in head-to-body length, with a long tail. The shoulder height is about and body weight is up to.

Differences between Andean and pampas cats.

The Andean mountain cat and pampas cat look similar. This makes it difficult to identify which cat is observed and makes correct estimations of populations problematic. This can be especially difficult when attempting to gain correct information from the observations of individuals that have seen one of these cats but are not aware to look for specific features to distinguish between the two.

Distribution and habitat.

The Andean mountain cat lives only at high elevations in the Andes. Records in Argentina indicate that it lives at elevations from in the southern Andes to over in Chile, Bolivia and central Peru. This terrain is arid, sparsely vegetated, rocky and steep. The population in the Salar de Surire Natural Monument was estimated at five individuals in an area of. Results of a survey in the Jujuy Province of northwestern Argentina indicates a density of seven to 12 individuals per at an elevation of about.  Its habitat in the Andes is fragmented by deep valleys, and its preferred prey, mountain viscachas ("Lagidium") occur in patchy colonies. Across this range, the level of genetic diversity is very low.  It is also probable that mountain chinchillas were previously important prey of the Andean mountain cat before their populations were drastically reduced due to hunting for the fur trade.

Ecology and behaviour.

Competition with other predators.

Six different species of carnivores live in the Andes Mountain range. Apart from the Andean cat, there are two other cat species: the pampas cat and the puma. The puma is a large predator, while the Andean and Pampas Cat are medium-sized predators. These two medium-sized predators are very much alike. They both hunt within the same territory. They hunt the same prey, the mountain viscacha ("Lagidium viscacia"), a rodent. The viscacha makes up 93.9% of the biomass consumed in the Andean cat's diet while the Pampas Cat depends on it for 74.8% of its biomass consumption. Both of these cats depend on a specific prey to make up a large portion of their dietary needs. In some areas, the mountain viscacha will make up 53% of the Andean cat's prey items. This is because the other prey items are so significantly smaller that even though the Andean cat will successfully hunt, kill, and eat a mountain viscacha half the time, the mountain viscacha is so much larger than the other food items, it makes up more substance. They also hunt frequently during the same periods. During one study, both the Andean cat and the Pampas Cat were seen most frequently during moonless nights; the second most sightings of these cats were during full moons.

Reproduction.

By using the residents' observations of Andean cats in coupled pairs with their litters, it is theorized that the mating season for the Andean cat is within the months of July and August. Because kittens have been seen in the months of April and October, this could mean that the mating season extends into November or even December. A litter will usually consist of one or two offspring born in the spring and summer months. This is common with many other species that also have their young when food resources are increasing.

Threats.

In 2002 the status of the Andean cat was moved from Vulnerable to Endangered on the IUCN Red List. Due to the Andean cat's habitat being spread across four countries, biologists have attempted to collaborate in efforts to protect the species. One of the groups formed was the Andean Cat Conservation Committee, now known as the Andean Cat Alliance. The table below was taken directly from the most current strategy plan for 2011–2016.

Conservation.

The Andean cat is protected in all the countries of its range.

Research.

Prior to 1998, the only evidence of this cat's existence was two photographs. It was then that Jim Sanderson took up his quest to find the Andean mountain cat. Sanderson sighted and photographed one in Chile in 1998 near Chile's northern border with Peru. In 2004, he joined a Bolivian research team and helped radio-collar an Andean cat in Bolivia. In April 2005, this cat was found dead, perhaps after being caught in a poacher's trap.  Sanderson is still involved with the Andean cat. Together with Constanza Napolitano, Lilian Villalba, and Eliseo Delgado and others in the Andean Cat Alliance, the Small Cat Conservation Alliance has forged conservation agreements with Fundación Biodiversitas, a Chilean non-profit organization, and CONAF, the government agency responsible for managing national parks and production forests. CONAF has agreed to allow the SCCA to renovate a building for the Andean Cat Conservation and Monitoring Center on their already-functioning compound at San Pedro de Atacama in Chile.  Villalba of the Andean Cat Alliance conducted a major research program, including radio-telemetry studies, from 2001 to 2006 in the Khastor region of southern Bolivia.

The Andean mountain cat ("Leopardus jacobita") is a small wild cat native to the high Andes that has been listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List because fewer than 2,500 individuals are thought to exist in the wild. It is traditionally considered a sacred animal by indigenous Aymara and Quechua people.