AcharyaChanakya/simple-wikipedia huggingface dataset:
The major problem in visual perception is that what people see is not simply a translation of an image on the retina. For one thing, we see the world right side up, even though the image on the retina is upside down (because it has passed through the lens). Therefore, it is difficult to explain what happens to create what we actually see. The key, which took centuries to be appreciated, is that the brain works on the data from the eyes, and marries it with memories and guesses, all at lightning speed. The result is an experience of the world which looks to each person as if it were simple reality. However, although based on reality, it is actually a mental construct, built by the brain.
Many figures in the ancient world had ideas about vision. Plato, Aristotle, Euclid, Ptolemy and Galen all had their ideas, but most of these ideas were speculation. They were not based on any scientific method.
Alhazen (965–c. 1040) carried out investigations and experiments on visual perception. He extended the work of Ptolemy on binocular vision, and commented on the anatomical works of Galen.
Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519) is believed to be the first to recognize the special optical qualities of the eye. He wrote "The function of the human eye ... was described by a large number of authors in a certain way. But I found it to be completely different". His main experimental finding was that there is only a distinct and clear vision at the line of sight, the optical line that ends at the fovea. Although he did not use these words literally he actually is the father of the modern distinction between foveal and peripheral vision.
Hermann von Helmholtz examined the human eye and concluded that it was, optically, rather poor. The poor-quality information gathered by the eye seemed to him to make vision impossible. So he thought vision could only be the result of some form of unconscious inferences. As well as information from the eyes, the brain used information from previous experiences. The world as experienced is built up from assumptions and conclusions from incomplete data, using prior experience of the world.
Examples of well-known assumptions, based on visual experience, are:
The study of visual illusions (cases when the inference process goes wrong) has yielded much insight into what sort of assumptions the visual system makes.
Pharynx
The pharynx is an organ in the back of the throat. It is also the meeting point of the digestive and the respiratory systems. The opening of the respiratory system in the pharynx is called the glottis. It is guarded by a cartilagenous flap called the epiglottis which prevents food or liquid from going into the respiratory system. It closes during swallowing action. As such, it is part of the gastrointestinal system. It comes after the mouth and before the esophagus. Food and air go through the pharynx. The pharynx keeps food and liquids out of the lungs.
The pharynx has 3 parts:
Jejunum
The jejunum is a section of the small intestine between the duodenum and the ileum. It is between 1 and 2 meters long.The term "jejunum" derives from the Latin "jejunus," which means "empty of food," "meager," or "hungry." The ancient Greeks noticed at death that this part of the intestine was always empty of food. Hence, the name the jejunum.
The Latin "jejunus" also gave rise to "jejune" means lacking in nutritive value and devoid of substance, significance or interest, that is dull. A jejune argument is one that is empty (like the jejunum) and totally devoid of interest.
Famous quote..."Have You Ever Been Punched in The Jejunum?"
Ileum
Cecum
Romano Prodi
Romano Prodi (born 9 August 1939 in Scandiano, Italy) is an Italian politician and leader of a left-wing coalition named "L'unione" (The Union).
Prodi was "President of the Council of Ministers", that is, Prime Minister of Italy between 1996 and 1998.
He then served as President of the European Commission from 1999 to 2004.
He was re-elected Prime Minister of Italy for a second time in 2006, when he defeated Silvio Berlusconi, leader of the right-wing coalition named "Casa delle Libertà" (House of Freedom).
2013 (MMXIII) was . It was the first year since 1987 to have all four of its digits being different numbers.
Basilicata
Basilicata is a region in the south of Italy. The capital is Potenza. The population was about 597,768 in 2004. The region is very mountainous. Because of this, communication in the area was very difficult until modern times. This has also caused Basilicata to be one of the least developed areas of Italy. Basilicata borders the Tyrrhenian Sea and the Gulf of Taranto at its lowest elevations. The highest point in the area is Monte Pollino at 2233m (7325ft). The area also includes a dead volcano, Monte Vulture. The region has an area of .
Basilicata also used to be one of the poorest regions in Italy. It has become richer over the past couple of years because of the discovery of oil.
Basilicata is divided into two provinces.
Campania is a region of the south of Italy. The capital is Napoli. The population in 2004 was about 5,701,931.
Emilia-Romagna
Emilia-Romagna (Emilian: "Emégglia-Rumâgna", "Emîlia-Rumâgna", Romagnol: "Emélia-Rumâgna") is one of the twenty regions of Italy, in northeast Italy on the Adriatic Sea. The capital is Bologna.
The region is in Northern Italy with an area of . It is bordered to the north by the Veneto and Lombardy regions, to the northwest by the Piedmont and Liguria regions, to the west by the Tuscany, to the south by the Marche region and the republic of San Marino, and the Adriatic Sea to the east.
The main river in the region is the Po. The highest mountain in the region is Monte Cimone, in the northern Apennines, with an altitude of .
Emilia-Romagna has nine provinces grouped in two historical regions:
Vasil Levski
Batter may mean:
Sana'a or Sanˤā' (, romanized as Ṣanʻāʼ or Sanaa), is the capital city of Yemen and the center of Sana'a Governorate. It had a population of 1,747,627 (as of 2004). In the 2010s it became a battlefield in the Civil War and the government moved to Aden.
Astrid Anna Emilia Lindgren, born Astrid Ericsson, (November 14, 1907 - January 28, 2002) was a famous Swedish writer. She wrote many books for children. She had a son named Lars.
Astrid Lindgren grew up in Näs, near Vimmerby, Småland, and many of her books are based on her family and childhood memories. However, Pippi Longstocking, her most famous character, was invented for her daughter Karin, who was, at the time, ill and had to stay in the bed.
Lindgren was the daughter of Samuel August Ericsson and Hanna Johnsson. She had two sisters. Her brother, Gunnar Ericsson, was a member of the Swedish parliament. She finished the school and took a job with the a local newspaper in Vimmerby. When she became pregnant with the chief editor's child in 1926, he proposed marriage. She did not accept, and moved to Stockholm, learning to become a typist and stenographer. There she gave birth to her son Lars in Copenhagen and left him with another family to care for him.
Although poorly paid, she saved whatever she could and travelled as often as possible to Copenhagen to be with Lars; often just over a weekend, spending most of her time on the train back and forth. Eventually, she managed to bring Lars home, leaving him in the care of her parents until she could afford to raise him in Stockholm. In 1931 she married her boss, Sture Lindgren (1898-1952). Three years later, in 1934, Lindgren gave birth to her second child, Karin, who later became a translator. The family moved in 1941 to an apartment on Dalagatan, with a view over Vasaparken, where Astrid lived until her death.
Astrid Lindgren died in 2002, at the age of 94.
In 1976, they had a scandal in Sweden when Lindgren's had to pay taxes 102% of her income. This is known as the "Pomperipossa effect" from a story, which she published in "Expressen" on 3 March 1976.
Astrid Lindgren was well known both for her support for children's and animal rights, and for her opposition to corporal punishment. In 1994, she received the Right Livelihood Award (also known as the Alternative Nobel Prize), "...For her commitment to justice, non-violence and understanding of minorities as well as her love and caring for nature."
Some of her books include:
1. ^ John-Henri, Holmberg (1997/1999), "Scandinavia", in Clute, John, and John Grant, The Encyclopedia of Fantasy, New York: St. Martin's Griffin, pp. 841 .
Cantabria
Cantabria is a region in the north of Spain. It has 563,000 people living in it. In Cantabria most people speak Spanish. The people of Cantabria have autonomy in Spain, which means they have their own local government and much control over their region. The capital is Santander. This city is on the coast of the Cantabrian Sea and is very popular with tourists. Cantabria belongs to the Green Spain, the name given to the strip of land between the Cantabrian Sea and the Cantabrian Mountains in northern Spain.
Many different examples of prehistoric cave art have been found, suggesting the Cantabrian culture is at least 15,000 years old. Cave art is the best known feature of the Cantabrian life. The latest round of systematic cave explorations began in the early 1970s. Now new art can be discovered every year. Some of the cave art is engraved, and others are painted. Much of the cave art is of animals. There are often pictures of red deer found from this area of Spain. There are also other unusual symbols that can be found. This attracts much interest and many tourists to this culture. The Cantabrian life revolves mainly around art, tourism, and fishing. Rich deposits of coal, iron, and zinc are also mined in the Cantabrian Mountains. Tourism is a very large part of the Cantabrian life, and their economic success.
Cantabria is known for a rainy and cool climate. The region is also greener than southern Spain and is very mountainous.
Civil Aviation Authority
The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), is the publicly-owned organisation in charge of flying (Aviation) in the United Kingdom. It was created in 1972, doing the tasks previously done by the Department of Transport.
This means it is in charge of:
The CAA no longer provides air traffic control services (ATC), this responsibility was passed to a private company called National Air Traffic Services (NATS) in 2001 which the government owns 49% of.
Some other duties have passed to the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), such as type certification. CAA-UK is part of the rulemaking group of the EASA.
Apulia
Apulia (; ; ) is one of the twenty regions of Italy, in southern Italy on the Adriatic Sea. The capital is Bari.
Its southernmost portion, known as Salento peninsula, has the shape of a high heel on the "boot" of Italy.
Apulia is in Southern Italy. It has an area of . There are 4,077,166 people living in the region, for a density of .
The region is bordered by Molise to the northwest, Campania to the west, Basilicata to the southwest, the Strait of Otranto and the Ionian Sea to the southeast, the Gulf of Taranto to the south, and the Adriatic Sea to north and to the east.
The region is divided into six provinces:
Belluno
Belluno (, , ) is a "comune" and city in the Veneto region, in Northeast Italy. Belluno is the capital of the province of the same name. The city is about north of Venice.
The town is near the confluence of the Piave river with the small river "Ardo". To the north of the town is the "Schiara", a group of mountains. To the south, the foothills of the Alps separate Belluno from the plain of the Veneto. The most northern part of the "comune" is in the "Dolomiti Bellunesi National Park" ().
The "comune" of Belluno has an area of and its altitude is .
Belluno borders with the following "comuni"ː Alpago, Limana, Longarone, Ponte nelle Alpi, Sedico, Sospirolo, Vittorio Veneto (in the Treviso province).
The following "frazioni" (hamlets) are part of Belluno: Anconetta, Antole, Bes, Bolzano, Caleipo, Castion, Castoi, Cet, Cirvoi, Col di Salce, Faverga, Fiammoi, Giamosa, Giazzoi, Gioz, Levego, Madeago, Mares, Mier, Nevegàl, Nogarè, Orzes, Rivamaor, Safforze, Sagrogna, Sala, Salce, San Fermo, San Pietro in Campo, Sois, Sopracroda, Sossai, Tisoi, Veneggia, Vezzano, Vignole, Visome.
, there are 35,870 persons living in the "comune", for a population density of inhabitants/km².
Evolution of the population in Belluno
Belluno is twinned with:
Vicenza
Vicenza is a "comune" and city in the Veneto region, in Northeast Italy. Vicenza is the capital of the province of the same name. The city is about west of Venice, the capital of the region, and east of Milan.
Vicenza is a cosmopolitan city, with a rich history and culture, and many museums, art galleries, piazzas, villas, churches and elegant Renaissance "palazzi". With the "Palladian Villas of the Veneto" in the surrounding area, and his renowned "Teatro Olimpico" (Olympic Theater), Vicenza has been listed as an UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1994.
The city is also known as the "City of Palladio" after Andrea Palladio, an architect that designed and built several important buildings in Vicenza and other cities.
Vicenza is at the confluence of the "Bacchiglione" river with its tributary "Retrone".The "comune" of Vicenza has an area of to the north of the "Berici Hills". Its average altitude is .
The southern part of the city is flat with an elevation of above sea level. The historical centre is among the meanders of the Bacchiglione river and of its tributaries with an elevation of above sea level. To the south there is also an area with hills belonging to the Berici Hills with a top elevation of above sea level
Vicenza borders with the following "comuni"ː Altavilla Vicentina, Arcugnano, Bolzano Vicentino, Caldogno, Costabissara, Creazzo, Dueville, Longare, Monteviale, Monticello Conte Otto, Quinto Vicentino and Torri di Quartesolo.
The following "frazioni" (hamlets) are part of Vicenza: Anconetta, Bertesina, Bertesinella, Bugano, Campedello, Casale, Debba, Longara, Maddalene, Ospedaletto, Polegge, San Pietro Intrigogna, Santa Croce Bigolina, Tormeno.
The climate of Vicenza is an oceanic climate with template summers, Cfb (Marine West Coast Climate) in the Köppen climate classification.
The average temperature for the year in Vicenza is . The warmest month, on average, is July with an average temperature of . The coolest month on average is January, with an average temperature of .
The average amount of precipitation for the year in Vicenza is . The month with the most precipitation on average is November with of precipitation. The month with the least precipitation on average is July with an average of .
, there are 112,953 persons living in the "comune", for a population density of inhabitants/km².
Evolution of the population in Vicenza
Vicenza is twinned with:
Rovigo
Rovigo is an Italian city. It has a population of about 50,883 inhabitants.
L'Aquila
L'Aquila is an Italian city.
It has about 71,989 inhabitants. It is the capital of Abruzzo.
It is on a hill in the valley of the Aterno river. It is circled by the Apennine Mountains. The Financial Times, an important newspaper, wrote that L'Aquila is "the most handsome city of Abruzzo".
It is a very old town, full of beautiful buildings and churches. It has a University.
Emperor Frederick II founded this town. He told the people of 99 villages to move in the new town. Frederick's son, Conrad IV of Germany finished the town in 1254. When Conrad died, his brother Manfred destroyed the town in 1259. Charles I of Anjou, king of Sicily, built it again soon.
It became soon the second city of the kingdom of Naples.
The city of L'Aquila had much power because the 99 original villages helped it. Each village owned a borough (a small part of the town) and the borough was a part of the mother-village. That is also why the number 99 is so important in the history of L'Aquila.
The people also built a very peculiar monument, the Fountain of the 99 Spouts ("Fontana delle 99 Cannelle").
The city was an important market for the countryside. The saffron (a very important spice) was grown in fields around town; shepherds had millions of sheep near L'Aquila.
After a few years L'Aquila became an important point of communication between cities in and out of the kingdom.
On August 29, 1294, the hermit Pietro del Morrone became pope Celestine V. The ceremony was in the church of Santa Maria di Collemaggio.
To thank the town, Celestine V decided that every year on that day every Christian who went to L'Aquila would be pardoned for his sins (bad actions). This is called Perdonanza, and it still happens every year on August 28 and 29. The Perdonanza is similar to the Jubilee Year, but arrived earlier.
The Perdonanza made the town more rich. But after a long time the plague (a dangerous illness) struck L'Aquila in 1348 and 1363. An earthquake struck it in 1349.
Saint Bernardino of Siena visited L'Aquila two times. The first time he came to preach to King René of Naples. In 1444 he died in the city.
In the 16th century, the Spanish viceroy Philibert van Oranje destroyed L'Aquila again. After this, he built a Castle.
Another earthquake damaged again the city in 1703.
The city is the home of L'Aquila Rugby. This team won the Italian championship five times.
L'Aquila is twinned with these cities:
Chieti is a city and "comune" in Southern Italy, east by northeast of Rome. It is the capital of the province of Chieti in the Abruzzo region.
Chieti is on a hill between the Aterno-Pescara and the Alento rivers and is near the coast of the Adriatic Sea and the mountains.
Chieti is in the central eastern part of the Abruzzo, at an average altitude of above sea level. It is on a hill that separates the watersheds of the Aterno-Pescara river (to the north) and of the Alentro stream (to the south). The "comune" has an area of .
The city is formed by two main parts:
The "comune" is surrounded by the "comuni" Bucchianico, Casalincontrada, Cepagatti (PE), Francavilla al Mare, Manoppello (PE), Pescara (PE), Ripa Teatina, Rosciano (PE), San Giovanni Teatino and Torrevecchia Teatina.
The following "frazioni" (hamlets) are part of Chietiː Bascelli, Brecciarola, Buonconsiglio-Fontanella, Carabba, Chieti Scalo, Colle Marcone, Crocifisso, De Laurentis Vallelunga, Fonte Cruciani, Iachini, La Torre, San Martino, San Salvatore, Levante, Tricalle, Sant'Anna, Santa Barbara, Santa Filomena, Selvaiezzi, Vacrone Cascini, Vacrone Colle San Paolo, Vacrone Villa Cisterna, Vallepara, Villa Obletter, Villa Reale.
The people from Chieti are called "Chietini" but also "Teatini" after the old name of the city ().
, there are 51,330 persons living in the "comune", for a population density of inhabitants/km².
Evolution of the population
Cryptozoology is the study of animals that people think might exist, but can't be proved to exist. It also is the study of animals many scientists think are extinct, but which people sometimes report. Those who study or look for such animals are called "cryptozoologists." Some people call the unproven creatures cryptids. John Wall was the first person to use this word in 1983.
The Mongolian Death Worm is a strange snake-like animal that lives in the Gobi Desert. Scientists do not know if it really exists or not.
People who report seeing it say it is like a red, fat worm around 2 – 4 feet long. People who live in Mongolia call it "allghoi khorkhoi". These people also say the creature spits yellow poison that will kill you as soon as it touches you and it can produce electricity so powerful that it could kill large animals.
Ankylosaurus
Ankylosaurus ("Ankylosaurus magniventris") was a type of armoured dinosaur. It was the largest of its type, with a maximum length of 9 metres (30 feet).
The body was broad and low-slung and covered in armour. Carnivores, attacking from above, would find no weak points, and the animal could defend itself by using its clubbed tail.
"Ankylosaurus" was a herbivore, or plant-eater. Because there was no grass in the dinosaur times, the Ankylosaurus probably ate ferns and low shrubs.
The most obvious feature of "Ankylosaurus" is its armour, consisting of massive knobs and plates of bone, known as osteoderms or bony scutes, embedded in the skin. Osteoderms are also found in the skin of crocodiles, armadillos and some lizards. The bone was probably overlain by a tough, horny layer of keratin.
These osteoderms ranged greatly in size, from wide, flat plates to small, round nodules. The plates were aligned in regular horizontal rows down the animal's neck, back, and hips, with the many smaller nodules protecting the areas between the large plates. Smaller plates may have been arranged on the limbs and tail. Compared to the slightly more ancient ankylosaurid "Euoplocephalus", the plates of "Ankylosaurus" were smooth in texture, without the high keels found on the armor of the contemporaneous nodosaurid "Edmontonia". A row of flat, triangular spikes may have protruded laterally along each side of the tail. Tough, rounded scales protected the top of the skull, while four large pyramidal horns projected outwards from its rear corners.
Underneath it was covered by normal skin, but to get at it the carnivore would have to turn over an animal weighing up to 6,000 kg (11,000 lb).
Matera
Matera is a town in the area of Basilicata, in the southern part of Italy. It is the capital of the province of Matera. On October 17, 2014, Matera was declared Italian host of European Capital of Culture for 2019
Potenza () is an Italian city in south of Italy, in the region Basilicata. It is the capital of Basilicata and also the center of Potenza province. It has 70,000 inhabitants.
Potenza means strength in Italian.
The altitude of the city center is 819m, thus making it the highest provincial capital in Italy.
Kara Sea
The Kara Sea (Russian: Ка́рское мо́ре) is part of the Arctic Ocean. It lies north of Siberia. The Kara Sea is separated from the Barents Sea to the west by the Kara Strait and Novaya Zemlya, and the Laptev Sea to the east by the Severnaya Zemlya.
It is roughly 1,450 kilometres long and 970 kilometres wide. It has an area of around 880,000 km² and an average depth of 110 m.
The Kara receives a large amount of fresh water from the Ob, Yenisei, Pyasina, and Taimyra rivers, so its salinity is very variable.
Its main ports are Novy Port and Dikson and it is important as a fishing ground although the sea is ice-bound for all but two months of the year. Significant discoveries of petroleum and natural gas, an extension of the West Siberian Oil Basin, have been made but have not yet been developed.
There is concern about the levels of nuclear waste the former Soviet Union dumped in the sea which included six nuclear submarine reactors and ten nuclear reactors, and the effect this will have on the marine environment. An International Atomic Energy Agency appraisal showed that releases are low and localised.
Prototheria
The Prototheria is a former subclass of mammals, now no longer in use. The name comes from Greek "prōtos" means 'first', and "thēr", 'beast'. The only surviving animals in this subclass are the Monotremes.
There are two other subclasses, the Metatheria and the Eutheria. Metatheria contains the marsupials. All the other mammals are Eutherian.
Evidence is accumulating that the Prototheria is not a natural group, but alternative suggestions are not yet agreed.
Edvard Munch (12 December 1863 – 23 January 1944) was a Norwegian painter and print-maker. He was born in Adalsbruk. He was an expressionist who painted 1789 known paintings. He is well known for his treatment of emotion such as fear. His way of seeing things had a large influence on the expressionism of the 20th century. People saw this treatment as being intense.
During his life, he had success as a painter: He became famous outside Norway, and his paintings got high prices. The National Gallery (Norway) used much money to buy paintings by Munch. He painted a large murals in the "aula" (main room) of Norway's (then) only university.
He had four brothers and sisters. He had followed his mother and sister by being the best artists in their family. While Edvard was still young, his mother and one of his sisters died. But it was when he was thirteen that he really came to like art. The first paintings he did were simple objects like medicine bottles and other objects. Later on, he drew oil paintings.
He went to technical college in 1879 where he learnt how to draw paintings with perspective. However, in 1880, the following year he left the school to become a painter.
He went to the Royal School of Art and Design. This is where he learnt sculpturing and naturalistic painting. This is where he drew his first important portrait of himself and his father.
Munch was ill very often. Many scientists think that he suffered from bipolar disorder (manic depression). He died at his house in Oslo.
"The Scream" (1893; originally called "Despair"). This is Munch's best-known painting, and is one of the best known images in the world. It is one of the pieces in a series titled "The Frieze of Life". In the series Munch explored the themes of life, love, fear, death and melancholy. As with many of his works, he made several versions of the painting. One version was stolen from the "Munch-museum" in Oslo, Norway, on 22 August 2004, but on 31 August 2006 Norwegian police found it together with another picture that was stolen at the same time, "Madonna".
"The Frieze of Life" themes come back throughout Munch's work. These themes can be seen in paintings such as "The Sick Child" (1886, portrait of his deceased sister Sophie), (1893–1894), "Ashes" (1894), and "The Bridge". The last-named shows limp figures. Those figures have faces with no features, or they have no faces at all. Threatening shapes of heavy trees and houses are above the figures. Munch portrayed women either as frail, innocent sufferers or as lurid, life-devouring vampires. Munch analysts say this reflects his sexual anxieties.
Munch and bipolar disorder:
Sex education
Sex education is telling people about sexual intercourse. Usually, parents tell their children when they reach puberty. This usually includes things like how to make babies, how to protect against unwanted pregnancies, and how not to get any of the sexually transmitted diseases there are. In many cultures speaking about sex or sexual education is a taboo.
Some level of sex education is also done in school; in many places, the government passed laws that say that sex education must be done in school. Some parts of sex education vary by culture, e.g. the moral and ethic aspects.
The bedroom is a room in a home where people sleep. A bedroom mainly has a bed and drawers to hold clothes in. Many bedrooms also have closets. Some houses have more than one bedroom, and the biggest one is called a master bedroom. Master bedrooms also have bathrooms attached to them called an ensuite.
Marche is one of the twenty regions of Italy, in Central Italy on the Adriatic Sea. The capital is the city of Ancona.
The region is located in Central Italy bordered by Emilia-Romagna and the republic of San Marino to the north, Tuscany to the west, Umbria to the southwest, Abruzzo and Lazio to the south, and the Adriatic Sea to the east.
Marche is the 15th largest region in Italy, with a total area of . The main rivers in the region are:
The Nera river is long but is a tributary of the Tiber and flows mainly in the Lazio region.
The highest mountain in the region is Monte Vettore, in the Ascoli Piceno province, with an altitude of .
The region is divided into five provinces:
Umbria is one of the twenty regions of Italy, in center Italy. It is the one of the smallest Italian region. Its capital is Perugia.
It is the only region without a coastline or a border with another country.
The region is located in Central Italy with an area of . It is bordered by Marche to the east and northeast, Tuscany to the west and northwest, and Lazio to the south and southwest.
The main river in the region is the Tiber. Other important rivers are the Nera, Paglia, Topino, Chiascio and Nestore.
The largest lake of Umbria is the Trasimeno, one of the largest lake of Italy.
The highest mountain in the region is Cima del Redentore, in the Sibillini Mountains (), with an altitude of .
Umbria is divided into two provinces:
Valle d'Aosta
Valle d'Aosta (Val d'Aosta or Val d'Aoste) is a mountainous region in the northwest. In the English language it is usually called the "Aosta Valley".
The region has two official name: "Regione Autonoma Valle d'Aosta" (in Italian) and "Région Autonome Vallée d'Aoste" (in French). The capital is Aosta.
The valley goes up towards Mont Blanc. It is the route out of Italy to the North-West. It was used by Roman armies, and the proof is in the archaeological artefacts found in Aosta. The town has been both French and Italian over the past few centuries, and the street names in Aosta are in both languages.
It is the smallest region in Italy, with an area of , and a population of about 126,883. It is the only Italian region which has no provinces. The regional government has taken all the administrative functions of a province. The region is divided into 74 "comuni".
Its frontier to the north is with Switzerland (Canton Valais), to the west with France (region Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes), to the south and east with the Italian region of Piedmont.
The Valle d'Aosta is a small valley, the valley of the Dora Baltea river, with some smaller side valleys. It is in the middle of the Alps, surrounded by four of the tallest mountains throughout Italy and Europe:
In the Valle d'Aosta, a region with many mountains and close to the borders with other countries, the mountain passes are very important. Even though now there some tunnels, the passes are important. They add a historical and geographical perspective which is important to tourism and tradition.
The main mountain passes between the Val d'Aosta and other valleys are:
The southern part of the territory is occupied by the Gran Paradiso National Park, created in 1922 to protect plants and animals in danger of extinction.
The valleys were made by glaciers moving at a time when the entire region was covered by them. Currently, glaciers occupy only the highest peaks.
The Dora Baltea () river flows along the whole Valle d'Aosta, from the northwest to the southeast; it is long and is a tributary of the Po river.
The 74 "comuni" - with the exception of Aosta - of the Valle d'Aosta are organized in mountain communities (, ). There are eight mountain communities:
The 10 "comuni" of the Valle d'Aosta with the higher populations (January 2017) are:
A person from the Valle d'Aosta is called a "Valdotian" (, ).
The total population of Valle d'Aosta in 1 January 2017 was 126,883, of which 61,976 were male and 64,907 were female.
Evolution of the population in the Aosta Valley
Italian and French are the region's official languages and are used for the regional government's acts and laws, though Italian is much more widely spoken in everyday life. Of the population of the valley 96% speaks Italian as either a first or second language. Of the population 70% speaks French as either first or second language. School education is given equally in both Italian and French.
The regional language is a dialect of Franco-Provençal called Valdôtain (locally, "patois"). It is spoken as native tongue and as second language by about 58% of the population, according to a poll taken by the Fondation Émile Chanoux in 2002. The residents of the villages of Gressoney-Saint-Jean, Gressoney-La-Trinité and Issime, in the Lys Valley, speak two dialects of Walser German origin called "Titsch" and "Töitschu" respectively.
Mont Blanc ("Monte Bianco" in Italian) is a mountain in the Alps. Its height is 4810.90 metres. When Mount Elbrus (5,642 m) in the Caucasus is left out, Mont Blanc is often considered the highest point in Europe.
Mont Blanc is on the Italy/France border.
Shiite Crescent
Shiite Crescent is used as political and geo-political term to describe the different countries whose majority is Shia or who had a strong Shia minority in the population. Is often used to describe the potential of a cooperation of these countries in the Middle East policy.
The nations where Shi'a Muslims form a dominant majority are Azerbaijan, Lebanon, Iran, Bahrain and Iraq. The shape of these countries put together resembles a crescent or half moon. Large minorities also exist in Turkey, Yemen, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, India, UAE, and Syria.
Xizang Autonomous Region, also called the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR), is a province-level autonomous region of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Its capital is Lhasa. English speakers often call this region Tibet, but Tibet can also mean any place where the Tibetan culture is local to.
Tibet's main religion is Buddhism. Their traditions make it a place of interest to many people. The local monks are sometimes said to have special, superhuman abilities. The writings of Tibetan monks are sometimes shared with outsiders, and are known for their insight. The "Tibetan Book of the Dead" contains rituals for the dead and dying, somewhat similar to the Catholic last rites. Some Tibetans practice a religion called Bon. People who study Bon disagree where Bon came from, how old it is, and if it can be called a kind of Buddhism. The religious leader of Tibet's Buddhists is called the Dalai Lama. He was forced to leave the country when the Chinese Army took over. The Dalai Lama presently lives in exile in India, but often visits other countries. Many monks and other religious people also were forced to leave the country, and many of them started Buddhist and Bon centers in cities around the world.
Tibet formed from communities living along the Yarlung Tsangpo, the longest river in Tibet. Namri Songtsen united these communities under one king around 600 CE, with the city of Lhasa becoming capital. His son Songtsen Gampo took control of land beyond Lhasa and the Yarlung Tsangpo and started the Tibetan Empire. Tibetan writers say that Buddhists came to Tibet for the first time while Songtsen Gampo was king. Trisong Detsen, king from 755-794 CE, gave a lot of support to Buddhism. He helped build a monastery at Samye, which became very important. During Trisong Detsen's time as king, the Tibetan Empire had control over large areas of land. Tibet's borders touched Central Asia and Afghanistan at the west, Bangladesh at the south, and China at the east. After the king Langdarma was killed in 842, the Tibetan Empire collapsed, and Tibet was no longer united under one king.
In the late 900s and 1000s, people started new Buddhist and Bon traditions. Three of the four schools of Tibetan Buddhism were started during this time, as well as the first Bon monasteries. People who study Tibet's history call this time the Tibetan Renaissance. In 1042, the Indian Buddhist master Atisha came to Tibet. Atisha inspired a reform of Tibet's monasteries and wrote an important guidebook for people to gain enlightenment. These kinds of guidebooks are called lamrim, and all of the lamrim books in Tibet are based on Atisha's book. The largest school of Tibetan Buddhism, the Gelug school, was started by people inspired by Atisha, particularly the monk Tsongkhapa (1357-1419). Tsongkhapa's writings on philosophy became the new norm in Tibet.
The Mongol Empire sent armies to Tibet in 1240, and took control over the country over the next nine years. The Mongols left the running of the country to leaders from the Sakya school of Buddhism. Tibetan Buddhism spread to Mongolia, and today most people in Mongolia are Buddhists as a result. In the mid-1300s, Tibet became independent again, but the Mongols still had some power and influence. In 1577, the Mongol leader Altan Khan gave the leader of the Gelug school the title Dalai Lama. The fifth Dalai Lama was able to gain control of all of Tibet, and the Dalai Lama became not just the leader of the Gelug school but the leader of Tibet as well. During the 1700s, the Qing Empire, based in China, sent armies to Tibet and took official control of Tibet, but the Qing emperors mostly let the Dalai Lama run the country. The Qing emperor Qianlong gave his support to Tibetan Buddhism, allowing new translations of Buddhist books to be made and building new temples. In the late 1800s, the British Empire and Russian Empire began to be interested in having control of Tibet, as it was in the middle of Russian colonies in Central Asia and British colonies in India. Britain sent armies to Tibet in 1903-4. They forced Tibet to agree not to be friendly with Russia. A revolution ended the Qing Empire in 1911, and Tibet became independent again, and was independent for the next thirty-six years.
In 1949, Mao Zedong became the leader of China. Mao and the Chinese leaders thought that China should regain control of Tibet, and in 1950, Chinese troops entered the east of Tibet. Mao Zedong was a communist, and thought that many things about the way Tibetans lived their lives should be different. The Chinese communists did not like how much power the Dalai Lama, the Gelug school, and Buddhist groups in general had over Tibetan society, and they wished to reform how land was owned in Tibet. The changes the Chinese Communist Party made in Tibet were enforced with violence, and Tibetans began to rebel against the Chinese government. The Chinese responded by sending many troops in 1959, forcing the Dalai Lama and thousands of other Tibetans to flee to other countries. The Dalai Lama started a government in exile in India. Between 1959 and 1961, most of Tibet's monasteries were destroyed, and the Chinese Communist Party gained control over Tibetans' lives. China created an administrative division from part of Tibet called the Tibet Autonomous Region in 1965, although ethnic Tibetans have not had much say in the running of this region. The Chinese government has encouraged large numbers of Han Chinese people to settle in Tibet. Groups outside of China such as the Human Rights Watch argue that the Chinese government is oppressing Tibetans and causing them to lose their culture.
Tibet is divided into 2 municipalities (地级市) and five autonomous prefectures (自治州).
Tibetan culture also influences other regions nearby, such as Nepal, Bhutan, parts of eastern Kashmir and some regions in northern most Republic of India, most notably Sikkim, Uttaranchal and Tawang. China claims part of the Indian province of Arunachal Pradesh as South Tibet.
There has been some protests in Tibet since China took control in the 1950s. Most of them have been because of social or economic problems. Some of them have been because there are people who believe Tibet should not be a part of China. To show their resistance, many Tibetans set themselves on fire to put the Chinese government under pressure to become independent again. In 2011, 19 people killed themselves. A railway line, the Qingzang railway, has been built, linking China to Lhasa. Also, rising prices of food, and difficult access to higher education have angered many people. The railway line also raised fears about more migration. This situation has led to some violence against people from outside Tibet. Some of this violence occurs outside Tibet. When it comes to assigning government posts in Tibet, more other nationalities of Chinese seem to be assigned, rather than Tibetans. The Chinese Government claims that if Tibet became independent again, its economy would suffer.
Air gun
An air gun is a gun which uses gas to fire a projectile instead of burning gunpowder that an ordinary gun uses.
The oldest air guns used a bellows to compress (squeeze) air in a tube. When the gun was fired the air was released. The only way for the air to go was by pushing the pellet out.
A later invention was the spring piston, these can only fire one shot before the spring has to be reset. Newer guns use air or another gas in a small cartridge, these guns can fire many more shots before the cartridge needs to be changed or refilled.
The projectile for an air gun is usually a pellet. Some guns of this sort fire small round pellets call "bb"s. Some people think this means ball bearing, but it does not. The letters bb stood for a size of shot that was used to make shotgun cartridges, This was used in the first bb guns.
The most popular calibres (pellet sizes) for air weapons are mm (also called .177 to .22). In many countries there are strict rules that limit the sales of air guns so not everyone can have one.
They are not as powerful as other guns but they can still hurt or even kill people.
Many people enjoy air rifle and pistol shooting either for fun or hunting. In the Olympics and target games, air pistols are used in some of the shooting events.
A carcass or corpse is another word for a dead body. The dead body may be of an animal or a person.
Unit circle
In mathematics, a unit circle is a circle with a radius of 1. The equation of the unit circle is formula_1. The unit circle is centered at the Origin, or coordinates (0,0). It is often used in Trigonometry.
In a unit circle, where formula_2 is the angle desired, formula_3 and formula_4 can be defined as formula_5 and formula_6. Using the function of the unit circle, formula_1, another equation for the unit circle is found, formula_8. When working with trigonometric functions, it is mainly useful to use angles with measures between 0 and formula_9 radians, or 0 through 90 degrees. It is possible to have higher angles than that, however. Using the unit circle, two identities can be found: formula_10 and formula_11 for any integer formula_12.
El Al (; ) is the national airline of Israel. It is the country's flag carrier airline. It also flies to Africa, Asia, Europe and North America. El Al serves 48 destinations. It has only one hub: Ben Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv.
In 1948, after a conference in Geneva, the first President of Israel had to return to Israel with a government aircraft. However, this was not possible. So a C-54 was converted into a civil aircraft and repainted with the "El Al" logo in order to bring back the President to Israel.
El Al became the official Israeli airline in 1948. The first international flight took place in 1949. It flew from Tel Aviv to Paris.
Middle East Airlines () is an airline based in Lebanon. It flies between the Middle East, Europe and Africa.
Middle East Airlines opened for business on May 31, 1945. It was opened by Saeb Salam, with support from BOAC. MEA's work started on January 1, 1946 with flights between Beirut and Nicosia. Then its airplanes started to fly to Iraq, Egypt, Syria, and Cyprus. The company bought two Douglas DC-3 planes in mid-1946.
On September 7, 2006, Israel ended its 8-week long air blockade on Lebanon. A Middle East Airlines plane from Paris flew to the Rafik Hariri International Airport at 6:06 p.m. Lebanese time (3:03 p.m. GMT). MEA resumed its normal flight timetable on September 11, 2006.
Middle East Airlines flies its planes to these countries and their cities (since June 2006):
Blackmail means threatening to say something bad about someone unless that person pays some money.
If someone has committed a crime, another person might blackmail them. The blackmailer might, for example, say that if the criminal does not give them a large amount of money, they will tell the police.
A blackmailer may threaten to say something embarrassing that someone unless they hand over a sum of money. For example, it maybe something about an intimacy that they are having that they do not want everyone to know about.
Sometimes, a business may blackmail another business. They might threaten to harm that business in some way unless money is paid.
Blackmail is against the law. People who are caught blackmailing may be sent to jail.
Blackmail started on the borders of England and Scotland. Blackmail was the money left out by landowners in England so that raiders from Scotland did not steal their animals or damage the property.
Bribery means offering something (such as money) to a person in return for some favour which is bad in some way.
The money that is offered is called a bribe, and the verb is to bribe. Active bribery is offering payment and asking for favour, and passive bribery is asking for payment and offering favour. It is still called bribery if the trade is never done.
It is sometimes difficult to decide whether something is a bribe or just a reward. If a father pays his son for washing the car, that is just a reward or payment. However, if a parent pays a child for eating up its dinner, that might be thought of as a bribe because most people would think that is not right.
Bribery can be a crime in more serious cases, such as when a person offers money to hide their own wrongdoing. If a motorist is caught speeding by a policeman and offers the policeman money or a bottle of vodka to persuade him not to report him, that is bribery. If someone wants to take something into a country that is forbidden (or that they would have to pay tax on), they might offer the customs officer a bribe to persuade him to let them through. Some corrupt people will not do their jobs at all (like delivering some package) unless they get a bribe on top of their normal pay.
Those examples are clearly illegal (against the law) and are rare in many countries, but bribery is quite common in business in many parts of the world. It is difficult to do anything without offering bribes in these places. Giving business people presents in the hope that they will want to do business with you may just seem like good manners at times, but in some cases, it may seem more like bribery.
People who are found to be taking bribes can sometimes lose their jobs. In some cases (like the case of the motorist), bribery is against the law.
Rubella
Rubella (also known as German measles) is a disease caused by the Rubella virus.
It is often mild and an attack can pass unnoticed. However, this can make the virus very difficult to diagnose.
The disease can last 1–5 days. Children recover more quickly than adults.
The virus usually enters the body through the nose or throat. Like most viruses living along the respiratory tract, it is passed from person to person by tiny droplets in the air that are breathed out.
Rubella can also be transmitted from a mother to her developing baby (fetus) through the placenta. This can be very dangerous to the fetus, especially if the mother gets rubella early on in her pregnancy. Rubella can cause deafness, heart problems, intellectual disability, and many other problems in developing fetuses.
The virus has an incubation period of 2 to 3 weeks during which it becomes established. Common symptoms are a red/pink rash, swollen lymph nodes, and a high fever.
The disease is named "German measles" because it has a similar red rash to measles and was first described in detail by German doctors.
On April 29, 2015, it was announced that rubella has been eliminated in North American and South America. A scientific group of experts said it took 15 years of work for this to happen. Among the groups are: Pan American Health Organization, United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, UNICEF, and the United Nations Foundation.
Psychiatry is a part of medicine that studies, diagnoses and treats mental illnesses and abnormal behaviours and conditions that cause problems and make life difficult for people. The people who practice psychiatry and treat others who have psychiatric problems are called "psychiatrists".
Psychiatrists are medically qualified doctors. They can legally prescribe medications to their patients to help emotional and behavioral problems. This does not apply to psychologists, who are not qualified to prescribe medicines.
Psychiatrists learn about how the body and the brain work. Psychiatrists must learn about all kinds of illnesses. Sometimes a disease in the body causes the brain to work poorly. Cancer in the pancreas causes depression. Blood sugar problems in diabetes mellitus can cause a bad temper. These are only two examples.
As doctors, psychiatrists learn about how medications can help the brain work better. They also learn how medications sometimes cause problems to the brain. Sometimes psychologists send their patients to a psychiatrist if the patient seems to have a problem that medicine might help. The patient should continue to see the psychologist.
In the 1950s, the first medicine to help patients with bipolar disorder (formally known as manic-depressive illness) was discovered. This was lithium, a type of metal in a powder form. A bit later, the first medicine for psychosis was discovered. Later, medicines to calm people (tranquilizers), to end depression (anti-depressants), to help feelings remain the same each day (mood stabilizers) were discovered.