title: Pliny the Elder

text: Gaius was a member of the Plinia "gens:" the Insubric root "Plina" still persists, with rhotacism, in the local surname "Prina". He did not take his father's cognomen, Celer, but assumed his own, Secundus. As his adopted son took the same cognomen, Pliny founded a branch, the Plinii Secundi. The family was prosperous; Pliny the Younger's combined inherited estates made him so wealthy that he could found a school and a library, endow a fund to feed the women and children of Como, and own multiple estates around Rome and Lake Como, as well as enrich some of his friends as a personal favor. No earlier instances of the Plinii are known.


title: Pliny the Elder

text: In 59 BC, only about 82 years before Pliny's birth, Julius Caesar founded Novum Comum (reverting to Comum) as a "colonia" to secure the region against the Alpine tribes, whom he had been unable to defeat. He imported a population of 4,500 from other provinces to be placed in Comasco and 500 aristocratic Greeks to found Novum Comum itself. The community was thus multi-ethnic and the Plinies could have come from anywhere. Whether any conclusions can be drawn from Pliny's preference for Greek words, or Julius Pokorny's derivation of the name from north Italic as "bald" is a matter of speculative opinion. No record of any ethnic distinctions in Pliny's time is apparent—the population considered themselves to be Roman citizens.


title: Pliny the Elder

text: Pliny the Elder did not marry and had no children. In his will, he adopted his nephew, which entitled the latter to inherit the entire estate. The adoption is called a "testamental adoption" by writers on the topic, who assert that it applied to the name change only, but Roman jurisprudence recognizes no such category. Pliny the Younger thus became the adopted son of Pliny the Elder after the latter's death. For at least some of the time, however, Pliny the Elder resided in the same house in Misenum with his sister and nephew (whose husband and father, respectively, had died young); they were living there when Pliny the Elder decided to investigate the eruption of Mount Vesuvius, and was sidetracked by the need for rescue operations and a messenger from his friend asking for assistance.


title: Pliny the Elder

text: Pliny's father took him to Rome to be educated in lawmaking. Pliny relates that he saw Marcus Servilius Nonianus.


title: Pliny the Elder

text: In AD 46, at about age 23, Pliny entered the army as a junior officer, as was the custom for young men of equestrian rank. Ronald Syme, Plinian scholar, reconstructs three periods at three ranks.


title: Pliny the Elder

text: Pliny's interest in Roman literature attracted the attention and friendship of other men of letters in the higher ranks, with whom he formed lasting friendships. Later, these friendships assisted his entry into the upper echelons of the state; however, he was trusted for his knowledge and ability, as well. According to Syme, he began as a "praefectus cohortis", a "commander of a cohort" (an infantry cohort, as junior officers began in the infantry), under Gnaeus Domitius Corbulo, himself a writer (whose works did not survive) in Germania Inferior. In AD 47, he took part in the Roman conquest of the Chauci and the construction of the canal between the rivers Maas and Rhine. His description of the Roman ships anchored in the stream overnight having to ward off floating trees has the stamp of an eyewitness account.


title: Pliny the Elder

text: At some uncertain date, Pliny was transferred to the command of Germania Superior under Publius Pomponius Secundus with a promotion to military tribune, which was a staff position, with duties assigned by the district commander. Pomponius was a half-brother of Corbulo. They had the same mother, Vistilia, a powerful matron of the Roman upper classes, who had seven children by six husbands, some of whom had imperial connections, including a future empress. Pliny's assignments are not clear, but he must have participated in the campaign against the Chatti of AD 50, at age 27, in his fourth year of service. Associated with the commander in the "praetorium", he became a familiar and close friend of Pomponius, who also was a man of letters.


title: Pliny the Elder

text: At another uncertain date, Pliny was transferred back to Germania Inferior. Corbulo had moved on, assuming command in the east. This time, Pliny was promoted to "praefectus alae", "commander of a wing", responsible for a cavalry battalion of about 480 men. He spent the rest of his military service there. A decorative "phalera", or piece of harness, with his name on it has been found at "Castra Vetera", modern Xanten, then a large Roman army and naval base on the lower Rhine. Pliny's last commander there, apparently neither a man of letters nor a close friend of his, was Pompeius Paullinus, governor of Germania Inferior AD 55–58. Pliny relates that he personally knew Paulinus to have carried around 12,000 pounds of silver service on which to dine in a campaign against the Germans (a practice which would not have endeared him to the disciplined Pliny).


title: Pliny the Elder

text: According to his nephew, during this period, he wrote his first book (perhaps in winter quarters when more spare time was available), a work on the use of missiles on horseback, "De Jaculatione Equestri" ("On the Use of the Dart by Cavalry"). It has not survived, but in "Natural History", he seems to reveal at least part of its content, using the movements of the horse to assist the javelin-man in throwing missiles while astride its back. During this period, he also dreamed that the spirit of Drusus Nero begged him to save his memory from oblivion. The dream prompted Pliny to begin forthwith a history of all the wars between the Romans and the Germans, which he did not complete for some years.


title: Pliny the Elder

text: At the earliest time, Pliny could have left the service, Nero, the last of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, had been emperor for two years. He did not leave office until AD 68, when Pliny was 45 years old. During that time, Pliny did not hold any high office or work in the service of the state. In the subsequent Flavian dynasty, his services were in such demand that he had to give up his law practice, which suggests that he had been trying not to attract the attention of Nero, who was a dangerous acquaintance.


title: Pliny the Elder

text: Under Nero, Pliny lived mainly in Rome. He mentions the map of Armenia and the neighbourhood of the Caspian Sea, which was sent to Rome by the staff of Corbulo in 58. He also witnessed the construction of Nero's Domus Aurea or "Golden House" after the Great Fire of Rome in 64.


title: Pliny the Elder

text: Besides pleading law cases, Pliny wrote, researched, and studied. His second published work was "The Life of Pomponius Secundus", a two-volume biography of his old commander, Pomponius Secundus.


title: Pliny the Elder

text: Meanwhile, he was completing his monumental work, "Bella Germaniae", the only authority expressly quoted in the first six books of the "Annales" of Tacitus, and probably one of the principal authorities for the same author's "Germania". It disappeared in favor of the writings of Tacitus (which are far shorter), and, early in the fifth century, Symmachus had little hope of finding a copy.


title: Pliny the Elder

text: Like Caligula, Nero seemed to grow gradually more insane as his reign progressed. Pliny devoted much of his time to writing on the comparatively safe subjects of grammar and rhetoric. He published a three-book, six-volume educational manual on rhetoric, entitled "Studiosus", "The Student". Pliny the Younger says of it: "The orator is trained from his very cradle and perfected." It was followed by eight books entitled "Dubii sermonis" ("Of Doubtful Phraseology"). These are both now lost works. His nephew relates: "He wrote this under Nero, in the last years of his reign, when every kind of literary pursuit which was in the least independent or elevated had been rendered dangerous by servitude."


title: Pliny the Elder

text: In 68, Nero no longer had any friends and supporters. He committed suicide, and the reign of terror was at an end, as was the interlude in Pliny's obligation to the state.


title: Pliny the Elder

text: At the end of AD 69, after a year of civil war consequent on the death of Nero, Vespasian, a successful general, became emperor. Like Pliny, he had come from the equestrian class, rising through the ranks of the army and public offices and defeating the other contenders for the highest office. His main tasks were to re-establish peace under imperial control and to place the economy on a sound footing. He needed in his administration all the loyalty and assistance he could find. Pliny, apparently trusted without question, perhaps (reading between the lines) recommended by Vespasian's son Titus, was put to work immediately and was kept in a continuous succession of the most distinguished procuratorships, according to Suetonius. A procurator was generally a governor of an imperial province. The empire was perpetually short of, and was always seeking, officeholders for its numerous offices.


title: Pliny the Elder

text: Throughout the latter stages of Pliny's life, he maintained good relations with Emperor Vespasian. As is written in the first line of Pliny the Younger's "Avunculus Meus":


title: Pliny the Elder

text: In this passage, Pliny the Younger conveys to Tacitus that his uncle was ever the academic, always working. The word "ibat" (imperfect, "he used to go") gives a sense of repeated or customary action. In the subsequent text, he mentions again how most of his uncle's day was spent working, reading, and writing. He notes that Pliny "was indeed a very ready sleeper, sometimes dropping off in the middle of his studies and then waking up again."


title: Pliny the Elder

text: A definitive study of the procuratorships of Pliny was compiled by the classical scholar Friedrich Münzer, which was reasserted by Ronald Syme and became a standard reference point. Münzer hypothesized four procuratorships, of which two are certainly attested and two are probable but not certain. However, two does not satisfy Suetonius' description of a continuous succession. Consequently, Plinian scholars present two to four procuratorships, the four comprising (i) Gallia Narbonensis in 70, (ii) Africa in 70–72, (iii) Hispania Tarraconensis in 72–74, and (iv) Gallia Belgica in 74–76.


title: Pliny the Elder

text: According to Syme, Pliny may have been "successor to Valerius Paulinus", procurator of Gallia Narbonensis (southeastern France), early in AD 70. He seems to have a "familiarity with the "provincia"", which, however, might otherwise be explained. For example, he says In the cultivation of the soil, the manners and civilization of the inhabitants, and the extent of its wealth, it is surpassed by none of the provinces, and, in short, might be more truthfully described as a part of Italy than as a province.


title: Pliny the Elder

text: Pliny certainly spent some time in the province of Africa, most likely as a procurator. Among other events or features that he saw are the provoking of "rubetae", poisonous toads (Bufonidae), by the Psylli; the buildings made with molded earthen walls, "superior in solidity to any cement;" and the unusual, fertile seaside oasis of Gabès (then Tacape), Tunisia, currently a World Heritage Site. Syme assigns the African procuratorship to AD 70–72.


title: Pliny the Elder

text: The procuratorship of Hispania Tarraconensis was next. A statement by Pliny the Younger that his uncle was offered 400,000 "sesterces" for his manuscripts by Larcius Licinius while he (Pliny the Elder) was procurator of Hispania makes it the most certain of the three. Pliny lists the peoples of "Hither Hispania", including population statistics and civic rights (modern Asturias and Gallaecia). He stops short of mentioning them all for fear of "wearying the reader". As this is the only geographic region for which he gives this information, Syme hypothesizes that Pliny contributed to the census of Hither Hispania conducted in 73/74 by Vibius Crispus, legate from the Emperor, thus dating Pliny's procuratorship there.


title: Pliny the Elder

text: During his stay in Hispania, he became familiar with the agriculture and especially the gold mines of the north and west of the country. His descriptions of the various methods of mining appear to be eyewitness judging by the discussion of gold mining methods in his "Natural History". He might have visited the mine excavated at Las Médulas.


title: Pliny the Elder

text: The last position of procurator, an uncertain one, was of Gallia Belgica, based on Pliny's familiarity with it. The capital of the province was Augusta Treverorum (Trier), named for the Treveri surrounding it. Pliny says that in "the year but one before this" a severe winter killed the first crops planted by the Treviri; they sowed again in March and had "a most abundant harvest." The problem is to identify "this", the year in which the passage was written. Using 77 as the date of composition Syme arrives at AD 74–75 as the date of the procuratorship, when Pliny is presumed to have witnessed these events. The argument is based entirely on presumptions; nevertheless, this date is required to achieve Suetonius' continuity of procuratorships, if the one in Gallia Belgica occurred.


title: Pliny the Elder

text: Pliny was allowed home (Rome) at some time in AD 75–76. He was presumably at home for the first official release of "Natural History" in 77. Whether he was in Rome for the dedication of Vespasian's Temple of Peace in the Forum in 75, which was in essence a museum for display of art works plundered by Nero and formerly adorning the Domus Aurea, is uncertain, as is his possible command of the "vigiles" (night watchmen), a lesser post. No actual post is discernible for this period. On the bare circumstances, he was an official agent of the emperor in a quasiprivate capacity. Perhaps he was between posts. In any case, his appointment as commander of the imperial fleet at Misenum took him there, where he resided with his sister and nephew. Vespasian died of disease on 23 June 79. Pliny outlived him by four months.


title: Pliny the Elder

text: During Nero's reign of terror, Pliny avoided working on any writing that would attract attention to himself. His works on oratory in the last years of Nero's reign (67–68) focused on form rather than on content. He began working on content again probably after Vespasian's rule began in AD 69, when the terror clearly was over and would not be resumed. It was to some degree reinstituted (and later cancelled by his son Titus) when Vespasian suppressed the philosophers at Rome, but not Pliny, who was not among them, representing, as he says, something new in Rome, an encyclopedist (certainly, a venerable tradition outside Italy).


title: Pliny the Elder

text: In his next work, "Bella Germaniae", Pliny completed the history which Aufidius Bassus left unfinished. Pliny's continuation of Bassus's "History" was one of the authorities followed by Suetonius and Plutarch. Tacitus also cites Pliny as a source. He is mentioned concerning the loyalty of Burrus, commander of the Praetorian Guard, whom Nero removed for disloyalty. Tacitus portrays parts of Pliny's view of the Pisonian conspiracy to kill Nero and make Piso emperor as "absurd" and mentions that he could not decide whether Pliny's account or that of Messalla was more accurate concerning some of the details of the Year of the Four Emperors. Evidently Pliny's extension of Bassus extended at least from the reign of Nero to that of Vespasian. Pliny seems to have known it was going to be controversial, as he deliberately reserved it for publication after his death:


title: Pliny the Elder

text: It has been long completed and its accuracy confirmed; but I have determined to commit the charge of it to my heirs, lest I should have been suspected, during my lifetime, of having been unduly influenced by ambition. By this means I confer an obligation on those who occupy the same ground with myself; and also on posterity, who, I am aware, will contend with me, as I have done with my predecessors.


title: Pliny the Elder

text: Pliny's last work, according to his nephew, was the "Naturalis Historia" ("Natural History"), an encyclopedia into which he collected much of the knowledge of his time. Some historians consider this to be the first encyclopedia written. It comprised 37 books. His sources were personal experience, his own prior works (such as the work on Germania), and extracts from other works. These extracts were collected in the following manner: One servant would read aloud, and another would write the extract as dictated by Pliny. He is said to have dictated extracts while taking a bath. In winter, he furnished the copier with gloves and long sleeves so his writing hand would not stiffen with cold (Pliny the Younger in "avunculus meus"). His extract collection finally reached about 160 volumes, which Larcius Licinius, the Praetorian legate of Hispania Tarraconensis, unsuccessfully offered to purchase for 400,000 "sesterces." That would have been in 73/74 (see above). Pliny bequeathed the extracts to his nephew.


title: Pliny the Elder

text: When composition of "Natural History" began is unknown. Since he was preoccupied with his other works under Nero and then had to finish the history of his times, he is unlikely to have begun before 70. The procuratorships offered the ideal opportunity for an encyclopedic frame of mind. The date of an overall composition cannot be assigned to any one year. The dates of different parts must be determined, if they can, by philological analysis (the "post mortem" of the scholars).


title: Pliny the Elder

text: The closest known event to a single publication date, that is, when the manuscript was probably released to the public for borrowing and copying, and was probably sent to the Flavians, is the date of the Dedication in the first of the 37 books. It is to the "imperator" Titus. As Titus and Vespasian had the same name, Titus Flavius Vespasianus, earlier writers hypothesized a dedication to Vespasian. Pliny's mention of a brother (Domitian) and joint offices with a father, calling that father "great", points certainly to Titus.


title: Pliny the Elder

text: Pliny also says that Titus had been consul six times. The first six consulships of Titus were in 70, 72, 74, 75, 76, and 77, all conjointly with Vespasian, and the seventh was in 79. This brings the date of the Dedication probably to 77. In that year, Vespasian was 68. He had been ruling conjointly with Titus for some years. The title "imperator" does not indicate that Titus was sole emperor, but was awarded for a military victory, in this case that in Jerusalem in 70.


title: Pliny the Elder

text: Aside from minor finishing touches, the work in 37 books was completed in AD 77. That it was written entirely in 77 or that Pliny was finished with it then cannot be proved. Moreover, the dedication could have been written before publication, and it could have been published either privately or publicly earlier without the dedication. The only certain fact is that Pliny died in AD 79.


title: Pliny the Elder

text: "Natural History" is one of the largest single works to have survived from the Roman Empire and was intended to cover the entire field of ancient knowledge, based on the best authorities available to Pliny. He claims to be the only Roman ever to have undertaken such a work. It encompasses the fields of botany, zoology, astronomy, geology, and mineralogy, as well as the exploitation of those resources. It remains a standard work for the Roman period and the advances in technology and understanding of natural phenomena at the time. His discussions of some technical advances are the only sources for those inventions, such as hushing in mining technology or the use of water mills for crushing or grinding grain. Much of what he wrote about has been confirmed by archaeology. It is virtually the only work that describes the work of artists of the time, and is a reference work for the history of art. As such, Pliny's approach to describing the work of artists informed Lorenzo Ghiberti in writing his commentaries in the 15th century, and Giorgio Vasari, who wrote the celebrated "Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects" in 1550.


title: Pliny the Elder

text: Some historians consider "Natural History" to be the first encyclopedia ever written. It was the earliest encyclopedia to survive. There were many ancient histories written before Pliny the Elder's "Natural History," but scholars still recognize "Natural History" as an encyclopedia, setting it apart from the other ancient histories. Regardless of if it was first, it is certainly the most significant. Through "Natural History," Pliny the Elder gives modern experts a view into meanings of various things from first century Rome in a way that no other surviving text does. Each book of the "Natural History" covers a different topic, and the work is meant to cover every topic. Given the organization of the work, it is clear that it was meant to be a reference resource. Even modern scholars will sometimes compare an unknown object mentioned in a different ancient text with the objects described by Pliny and make comparisons. Modern scholars are also able to use "Natural History" to understand the traditions, fantasies, and prejudices in Ancient Rome. Some people have said that certain prejudices that have been prevalent throughout western history (such as a stigma around menstruation) were spread by "Natural History."


title: Pliny the Elder

text: The work became a model for all later encyclopedias in terms of the breadth of subject matter examined, the need to reference original authors, and a comprehensive index list of the contents. It is the only work by Pliny to have survived, and the last that he published, lacking a final revision at his sudden and unexpected death in the AD 79 eruption of Mount Vesuvius.


title: Pliny the Elder

text: Pliny, who had been appointed "praefectus classis" in the Roman navy by Vespasian, was stationed with the fleet at Misenum at the time of the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. He organized and led a rescue mission upon receiving a message from his friend Rectina, who had been left stranded in Stabiae during the eruption. Pliny boarded one of several galleys that he dispatched across the Gulf of Naples to Stabiae.


title: Pliny the Elder

text: As Pliny's vessel approached the shore near Herculaneum, cinders and pumice began to fall on it. The helmsman advised turning back, to which Pliny replied, "Fortune favours the bold; steer to where Pomponianus is." Upon reaching Stabiae, they found Senator Pomponianus, but the same winds that brought them there prevented them from leaving. The group waited for the wind to abate, but they decided to leave later that evening for fear their houses would collapse. The group fled when a plume of hot toxic gases engulfed them. Pliny, a corpulent man who suffered from a chronic respiratory condition, possibly asthma, died from asphyxiation caused by the toxic gases, and was left behind. Upon the group's return three days later after the plume had dispersed, Pliny's body was found, with no apparent external injuries.


title: Pliny the Elder

text: Twenty-seven years later, upon a request from Tacitus, Pliny the Younger provided an account (obtained from the survivors from Stabiae) of his uncle's death.


title: Pliny the Elder

text: Suetonius wrote that Pliny approached the shore only from scientific interest and then asked a slave to kill him to avoid heat from the volcano. In 1859, Jacob Bigelow, after summarizing the information about Pliny's death contained in Pliny the Younger's letter to Tacitus, concluded that Pliny had died from apoplexy (stroke) or heart disease.


title: Pliny the Elder

text: In 1967, science historian Conway Zirkle similarly stated that "there is widespread and persisting misinformation" about Pliny's death. He suggested that despite his rescue attempt, Pliny never came within miles of Mount Vesuvius and no evidence has been found that shows he died from breathing in fumes, and like Bigelow, concluded that he died of a heart attack.


title: Molly Ephraim

text: Molly Ephraim (born May 22, 1986) is an American actress who has appeared in films, television, and Broadway, Off-Broadway, and regional theater productions. She is best known for her role as Mandy Baxter on the ABC sitcom "Last Man Standing" during its original run (2011–2017). Ephraim has also appeared on a number of other TV series, including "Brockmire" (2017), "Halt and Catch Fire" (2017), and "Casual" (2018). Ephraim portrayed Irene Kelly in the Hugh Jackman movie "The Front Runner" (2018), her second collaboration with her "Last Man Standing" co-star Kaitlyn Dever. She also appeared on HBO's "Perry Mason" as Della Street’s lover Hazel Prystock. She plays Maybelle Fox on the Amazon series "A League of Their Own".


title: Molly Ephraim

text: Ephraim was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and was raised Jewish. She grew up in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. Ephraim performed in shows at the Bucks County Playhouse, and in professional productions at the Prince Music Theater and at the Arden Theatre Company in Philadelphia.


title: Molly Ephraim

text: In 2008, Ephraim graduated from Princeton University with a B.A. in Religious Studies, after going to Central Bucks East High School. At Princeton she was a member of the Triangle Club and performed in and choreographed various shows for Princeton University Players and Theatre Intime.


title: Molly Ephraim

text: Ephraim made her Broadway debut as Little Red Riding Hood in the Broadway revival of "Into the Woods" in 2002, receiving a Drama League Award nomination. She later played Bielke in a Broadway revival of "Fiddler on the Roof" (2004). Off-Broadway, Ephraim played Rachel Stein in "End Days" at the Ensemble Studio Theatre in 2009. She played Olive in "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee" at the Barrington Stage Company in 2008, in a remounting of the production with new direction by Jeremy Dobrish, and at the North Shore Music Theatre. In 2010, she played Anne Frank in "The Diary of Anne Frank" at the Westport Country Playhouse.


title: Molly Ephraim

text: In 2015, Ephraim appeared as "Daphna Feygenbaum" in Joshua Harmon's "Bad Jews" at the Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles.


title: Molly Ephraim

text: Ephraim appeared as a series regular in the role of Mandy Baxter, daughter of series' lead Mike Baxter (portrayed by Tim Allen), on the ABC sitcom "Last Man Standing", which premiered on October 11, 2011 and originally ended in March 2017, canceled after six seasons. The series was revived by Fox in May 2018, but Ephraim opted not to return for the show's seventh season, with Molly McCook recast in the role.


title: Molly Ephraim

text: Ephraim has appeared on several other television series, including "Royal Pains" (2009), "Law & Order" (2008), the Michael J. Fox-produced pilot "Hench at Home" (2003), the HBO pilot "The Wonderful Maladys" (2009), and has had recurring roles on "Brockmire" (2017), "Halt and Catch Fire" (2017), "Casual" (2018) and "Perry Mason" (2020).


title: Molly Ephraim

text: Ephraim portrayed Wendy Greenhut in the film "College Road Trip" (2008) and Ali Rey in the film "Paranormal Activity 2" (2010) and the spin-off film "" (2014). Ephraim appeared in a supporting role in the 2018 biographical political drama "The Front Runner", portraying Irene Kelly. She also played Gypsy Rose Blanchard's attorney in "The Act" on Hulu.


title: Molly Ephraim

text: Ephraim was married in September 2021. Her husband, Evan, works at a software company. On December 1, 2021, Ephraim gave birth to the couple's first child, daughter Zia.


title: Wojak

text: Wojak (; , from Polish , loosely 'soldier' or 'fighter'), also known as Feels Guy, is an Internet meme that is, in its original form, a simple, black-outlined cartoon drawing of a bald man with a wistful expression. The origin of the Wojak illustration is unknown. It may have emerged in 2009 on a Polish imageboard named vichan, from where it was later reposted to the German imageboard krautchan in 2010 by a poster called "wojak".


title: Wojak

text: The meme subsequently grew in popularity on 4chan, where the character became associated with the phrases formerly used by wojak such as "I know that feel, bro", "that feel" or "that feel when".


title: Wojak

text: The earliest currently known "Wojak" is the nickname of a Polish user on the English-speaking board /int/ of the defunct German imageboard Krautchan, who started posting the image around 2010, often accompanied with lament about not having a girlfriend. According to him, the image originally came from the Polish imageboard vichan, where it was posted with the filename "ciepła twarz.jpg" (from Polish 'warm face'). Brian Feldman of "Intelligencer" describes the meme Wojak's expression as "pained but dealing with it".


title: Wojak

text: The image spread to other imageboards, including 4chan, where by 2011 an image of two Wojaks hugging each other under the caption "I know that feel bro" gained popularity.


title: Wojak

text: Some variants paired him with the character Pepe the Frog (catchphrase "feels good man/feels bad man") in what Feldman describes as a "platonic romance within the memescape".


title: Wojak

text: In October 2018, a Wojak with a gray face, pointy nose and blank, emotionless facial expression, dubbed "NPC Wojak", became a popular visual representation for people who supposedly cannot think for themselves or make their own decisions, comparing them to non-player characters – computer-automated characters within a video game.


title: Wojak

text: The meme gained media attention, initially in "Kotaku" and "The New York Times", due to its usage in parodying the supposed herd mentality of American liberals.


title: Wojak

text: About 1,500 Twitter accounts falsely posing as liberal activists with the NPC meme as a profile picture were suspended for allegedly spreading misinformation about the 2018 United States elections.


title: Wojak

text: On January 13, 2019, a conservative art collective known as "The Faction" hijacked a billboard for "Real Time with Bill Maher", replacing Maher's image with that of the NPC Wojak.


title: Wojak

text: In November 2019, the "Coomer" Wojak picked up in popularity with the "No Nut November" trend. The Coomer depicts a smiling Wojak edit with unkempt hair, red rimmed eyes, and an untidy beard. This Wojak is sometimes depicted with a skinny frame, and a large, muscular right arm resulting from excessive masturbation. It is generally understood to represent someone with a pornography addiction. Much of this meme's popularity can be attributed to the "Coomer Pledge", a viral internet trend which dared people to abstain from masturbation for all of November, and change their profile picture to an image of the Coomer if they were to fail.


title: Wojak

text: The doomer is an image macro and character archetype that first appeared on 4chan. The image typically depicts Wojak wearing a black watch cap and a black hooded sweatshirt, with dark circles under his eyes, while smoking a cigarette. The archetype often embodies nihilism, clinical depression, hopelessness, and despair, with a belief in the incipient end of the world to causes ranging from climate apocalypse, to peak oil, to alcoholism, to (more locally) opioid addiction. The meme first appeared on 4chan's /r9k/ board in September 2018.


title: Wojak

text: A related meme format, "doomer girl", began appearing on 4chan in January 2020, and it soon moved to other online communities, including Reddit and Tumblr, often by women claiming it from its 4chan origins. This format is described by "The Atlantic" as "a quickly sketched cartoon woman with black hair, black clothes, and sad eyes ringed with red makeup". The doomer girl character is often associated with the e-girl and alternative subcultures. The character often appears in image macros interacting with the original doomer character. The format is often compared to rage comics.


title: Wojak

text: Soyjak, a portmanteau of "soy" and "wojak", is a variation of Wojak that combines Wojak-style illustrations with features of a soy boy or "nu-male". It is typically used in online discourse, such as on 4chan and various other sites and imageboards, to mock an opponent's position by quoting them alongside a Soyjak image. The first example of Soyjak appeared in December 2017 on 4chan's /int/ board. It quickly gained notoriety on the site, spawning many edits and variants, commonly mocking interests associated with "soy boys", including use of sites such as Reddit or 9gag, playing Nintendo Switch, or cuckoldry, among other things. Soyjaks usually have large open mouths. Aside from the original Soyjak variant, a Wojak edit with glasses and a scraggly beard, it became popular to trace real-life people perceived to fit the "soy boy" stereotype.


title: Doppler effect

text: The Doppler effect or Doppler shift (or simply Doppler, when in context) is the change in frequency of a wave in relation to an observer who is moving relative to the wave source. It is named after the Austrian physicist Christian Doppler, who described the phenomenon in 1842.


title: Doppler effect

text: A common example of Doppler shift is the change of pitch heard when a vehicle sounding a horn approaches and recedes from an observer. Compared to the emitted frequency, the received frequency is higher during the approach, identical at the instant of passing by, and lower during the recession.


title: Doppler effect

text: The reason for the Doppler effect is that when the source of the waves is moving towards the observer, each successive wave crest is emitted from a position closer to the observer than the crest of the previous wave. Therefore, each wave takes slightly less time to reach the observer than the previous wave. Hence, the time between the arrivals of successive wave crests at the observer is reduced, causing an increase in the frequency. While they are traveling, the distance between successive wave fronts is reduced, so the waves "bunch together". Conversely, if the source of waves is moving away from the observer, each wave is emitted from a position farther from the observer than the previous wave, so the arrival time between successive waves is increased, reducing the frequency. The distance between successive wave fronts is then increased, so the waves "spread out".


title: Doppler effect

text: For waves that propagate in a medium, such as sound waves, the velocity of the observer and of the source are relative to the medium in which the waves are transmitted. The total Doppler effect may therefore result from motion of the source, motion of the observer, or motion of the medium. Each of these effects is analyzed separately. For waves which do not require a medium, such as electromagnetic waves or gravitational waves, only the relative difference in velocity between the observer and the source needs to be considered. When this relative velocity is not negligible compared to the speed of light, a more complicated relativistic Doppler effect arises.


title: Doppler effect

text: Doppler first proposed this effect in 1842 in his treatise ""Über das farbige Licht der Doppelsterne und einiger anderer Gestirne des Himmels"" (On the coloured light of the binary stars and some other stars of the heavens). The hypothesis was tested for sound waves by Buys Ballot in 1845. He confirmed that the sound's pitch was higher than the emitted frequency when the sound source approached him, and lower than the emitted frequency when the sound source receded from him. Hippolyte Fizeau discovered independently the same phenomenon on electromagnetic waves in 1848 (in France, the effect is sometimes called "effet Doppler-Fizeau" but that name was not adopted by the rest of the world as Fizeau's discovery was six years after Doppler's proposal). In Britain, John Scott Russell made an experimental study of the Doppler effect (1848).


title: Doppler effect

text: In classical physics, where the speeds of source and the receiver relative to the medium are lower than the velocity of waves in the medium, the relationship between observed frequency formula_1 and emitted frequency formula_2 is given by:


title: Doppler effect

text: Note this relationship predicts that the frequency will decrease if either source or receiver is moving away from the other.


title: Doppler effect

text: Equivalently, under the assumption that the source is either directly approaching or receding from the observer:


title: Doppler effect

text: If the source approaches the observer at an angle (but still with a constant velocity), the observed frequency that is first heard is higher than the object's emitted frequency. Thereafter, there is a monotonic decrease in the observed frequency as it gets closer to the observer, through equality when it is coming from a direction perpendicular to the relative motion (and was emitted at the point of closest approach; but when the wave is received, the source and observer will no longer be at their closest), and a continued monotonic decrease as it recedes from the observer. When the observer is very close to the path of the object, the transition from high to low frequency is very abrupt. When the observer is far from the path of the object, the transition from high to low frequency is gradual.


title: Doppler effect

text: If the speeds formula_7 and formula_14 are small compared to the speed of the wave, the relationship between observed frequency formula_1 and emitted frequency formula_2 is approximately


title: Doppler effect

text: With an observer stationary relative to the medium, if a moving source is emitting waves with an actual frequency formula_23 (in this case, the wavelength is changed, the transmission velocity of the wave keeps constant; note that the "transmission velocity" of the wave does not depend on the "velocity of the source"), then the observer detects waves with a frequency formula_1 given by


title: Doppler effect

text: A similar analysis for a moving "observer" and a stationary source (in this case, the wavelength keeps constant, but due to the motion, the rate at which the observer receives waves and hence the "transmission velocity" of the wave [with respect to the observer] is changed) yields the observed frequency:


title: Doppler effect

text: Assuming a stationary observer and a source moving at the speed of sound, the Doppler equation predicts a perceived momentary infinite frequency by an observer in front of a source that is traveling at the speed of sound. All the peaks are at the same place, so the wavelength is zero and the frequency is infinite. This overlay of all the waves produces a shock wave which for sound waves is known as a sonic boom.


title: Doppler effect

text: When the source moves faster than the wave speed the source outruns the wave. The equation gives negative frequency values, which have no physical sense in this context (no sound at all will be heard by the observer until the source passes past them).


title: Doppler effect

text: Lord Rayleigh predicted the following effect in his classic book on sound: if the observer were moving from the (stationary) source at twice the speed of sound, a musical piece "previously" emitted by that source would be heard in correct tempo and pitch, but as if played "backwards".


title: Doppler effect

text: An acoustic Doppler current profiler (ADCP) is a hydroacoustic current meter similar to a sonar, used to measure water current velocities over a depth range using the Doppler effect of sound waves scattered back from particles within the water column. The term ADCP is a generic term for all acoustic current profilers, although the abbreviation originates from an instrument series introduced by RD Instruments in the 1980s. The working frequencies range of ADCPs range from 38 kHz to several Megahertz. The device used in the air for wind speed profiling using sound is known as SODAR and works with the same underlying principles.


title: Doppler effect

text: Dynamic real-time path planning in robotics to aid the movement of robots in a sophisticated environment with moving obstacles often take help of Doppler effect. Such applications are specially used for competitive robotics where the environment is constantly changing, such as robosoccer.


title: Doppler effect

text: A siren on a passing emergency vehicle will start out higher than its stationary pitch, slide down as it passes, and continue lower than its stationary pitch as it recedes from the observer. Astronomer John Dobson explained the effect thus:


title: Doppler effect

text: In other words, if the siren approached the observer directly, the pitch would remain constant, at a higher than stationary pitch, until the vehicle hit him, and then immediately jump to a new lower pitch. Because the vehicle passes by the observer, the radial velocity does not remain constant, but instead varies as a function of the angle between his line of sight and the siren's velocity:


title: Doppler effect

text: where formula_28 is the angle between the object's forward velocity and the line of sight from the object to the observer.


title: Doppler effect

text: The Doppler effect for electromagnetic waves such as light is of widespread use in astronomy to measure the speed at which stars and galaxies are approaching or receding from us, resulting in so called blueshift or redshift, respectively. This may be used to detect if an apparently single star is, in reality, a close binary, to measure the rotational speed of stars and galaxies, or to detect exoplanets. This effect typically happens on a very small scale; there would not be a noticeable difference in visible light to the unaided eye.


title: Doppler effect

text: The use of the Doppler effect in astronomy depends on knowledge of precise frequencies of discrete lines in the spectra of stars.


title: Doppler effect

text: Among the nearby stars, the largest radial velocities with respect to the Sun are +308 km/s (BD-15°4041, also known as LHS 52, 81.7 light-years away) and −260 km/s (Woolley 9722, also known as Wolf 1106 and LHS 64, 78.2 light-years away). Positive radial velocity means the star is receding from the Sun, negative that it is approaching.


title: Doppler effect

text: Redshift is also used to measure the expansion of space, but this is not truly a Doppler effect. Rather, redshifting due to the expansion of space is known as cosmological redshift, which can be derived purely from the Robertson-Walker metric under the formalism of general relativity. Having said this, it also happens that there "are" detectable Doppler effects on cosmological scales, which, if incorrectly interpreted as cosmological in origin, lead to the observation of redshift-space distortions.


title: Doppler effect

text: The Doppler effect is used in some types of radar, to measure the velocity of detected objects. A radar beam is fired at a moving target — e.g. a motor car, as police use radar to detect speeding motorists — as it approaches or recedes from the radar source. Each successive radar wave has to travel farther to reach the car, before being reflected and re-detected near the source. As each wave has to move farther, the gap between each wave increases, increasing the wavelength. In some situations, the radar beam is fired at the moving car as it approaches, in which case each successive wave travels a lesser distance, decreasing the wavelength. In either situation, calculations from the Doppler effect accurately determine the car's velocity. Moreover, the proximity fuze, developed during World War II, relies upon Doppler radar to detonate explosives at the correct time, height, distance, etc.


title: Doppler effect

text: Because the doppler shift affects the wave incident upon the target as well as the wave reflected back to the radar, the change in frequency observed by a radar due to a target moving at relative velocity formula_29 is twice that from the same target emitting a wave:


title: Doppler effect

text: An echocardiogram can, within certain limits, produce an accurate assessment of the direction of blood flow and the velocity of blood and cardiac tissue at any arbitrary point using the Doppler effect. One of the limitations is that the ultrasound beam should be as parallel to the blood flow as possible. Velocity measurements allow assessment of cardiac valve areas and function, abnormal communications between the left and right side of the heart, leaking of blood through the valves (valvular regurgitation), and calculation of the cardiac output. Contrast-enhanced ultrasound using gas-filled microbubble contrast media can be used to improve velocity or other flow-related medical measurements.


title: Doppler effect

text: Although "Doppler" has become synonymous with "velocity measurement" in medical imaging, in many cases it is not the frequency shift (Doppler shift) of the received signal that is measured, but the phase shift ("when" the received signal arrives).


title: Doppler effect

text: Velocity measurements of blood flow are also used in other fields of medical ultrasonography, such as obstetric ultrasonography and neurology. Velocity measurement of blood flow in arteries and veins based on Doppler effect is an effective tool for diagnosis of vascular problems like stenosis.


title: Doppler effect

text: Instruments such as the laser Doppler velocimeter (LDV), and acoustic Doppler velocimeter (ADV) have been developed to measure velocities in a fluid flow. The LDV emits a light beam and the ADV emits an ultrasonic acoustic burst, and measure the Doppler shift in wavelengths of reflections from particles moving with the flow. The actual flow is computed as a function of the water velocity and phase. This technique allows non-intrusive flow measurements, at high precision and high frequency.


title: Doppler effect

text: Developed originally for velocity measurements in medical applications (blood flow), Ultrasonic Doppler Velocimetry (UDV) can measure in real time complete velocity profile in almost any liquids containing particles in suspension such as dust, gas bubbles, emulsions. Flows can be pulsating, oscillating, laminar or turbulent, stationary or transient. This technique is fully non-invasive.


title: Doppler effect

text: Fast moving satellites can have a Doppler shift of dozens of kilohertz relative to a ground station. The speed, thus magnitude of Doppler effect, changes due to earth curvature. Dynamic Doppler compensation, where the frequency of a signal is changed progressively during transmission, is used so the satellite receives a constant frequency signal. After realizing that the Doppler shift had not been considered before launch of the Huygens probe of the 2005 Cassini–Huygens mission, the probe trajectory was altered to approach Titan in such a way that its transmissions traveled perpendicular to its direction of motion relative to Cassini, greatly reducing the Doppler shift.


title: Doppler effect

text: where formula_32 is the velocity of the mobile station, formula_33 is the wavelength of the carrier, formula_34 is the elevation angle of the satellite and formula_28 is the driving direction with respect to the satellite.


title: Doppler effect

text: The Leslie speaker, most commonly associated with and predominantly used with the famous Hammond organ, takes advantage of the Doppler effect by using an electric motor to rotate an acoustic horn around a loudspeaker, sending its sound in a circle. This results at the listener's ear in rapidly fluctuating frequencies of a keyboard note.


title: Doppler effect

text: A laser Doppler vibrometer (LDV) is a non-contact instrument for measuring vibration. The laser beam from the LDV is directed at the surface of interest, and the vibration amplitude and frequency are extracted from the Doppler shift of the laser beam frequency due to the motion of the surface.


title: Doppler effect

text: During the segmentation of vertebrate embryos, waves of gene expression sweep across the presomitic mesoderm, the tissue from which the precursors of the vertebrae (somites) are formed. A new somite is formed upon arrival of a wave at the anterior end of the presomitic mesoderm. In zebrafish, it has been shown that the shortening of the presomitic mesoderm during segmentation leads to a Doppler-like effect as the anterior end of the tissue moves into the waves. This effect contributes to the period of segmentation.


title: Doppler effect

text: Since 1968 scientists such as Victor Veselago have speculated about the possibility of an inverse Doppler effect. The size of the Doppler shift depends on the refractive index of the medium a wave is traveling through. But some materials are capable of negative refraction, which should lead to a Doppler shift that works in a direction opposite that of a conventional Doppler shift. The first experiment that detected this effect was conducted by Nigel Seddon and Trevor Bearpark in Bristol, United Kingdom in 2003. Later, the inverse Doppler effect was observed in some inhomogeneous materials, and predicted inside a Vavilov–Cherenkov cone.


title: The Affair (TV series)

text: The Affair is an American television drama series created by Sarah Treem and Hagai Levi. The series premiered on Showtime on October 12, 2014. It ran for five seasons, concluding with its final episode on November 3, 2019.


title: The Affair (TV series)

text: The series primarily stars Dominic West, Ruth Wilson, Maura Tierney, and Joshua Jackson, and it explores the emotional effects of extramarital relationships. Episodes are often separated into two parts, with each half being told from the point of view of a specific character. The use of this dramatic device has been used by Treem to describe "The Affair" as "the Rashomon of relationship dramas".


title: The Affair (TV series)

text: The series won the Golden Globe Award for Best Television Series – Drama and Wilson won for Best Actress – Television Series Drama at the 72nd Golden Globe Awards in 2015. At the 73rd Golden Globe Awards in 2016, Maura Tierney won the award for Best Supporting Actress.


title: The Affair (TV series)

text: "The Affair" explores the emotional effects of an extramarital relationship between Noah Solloway and Alison Bailey after they casually meet at the diner where Alison works. The series begins with the Solloway family traveling to the resort town of Montauk, New York. Noah is happily married to Helen with four children–Whitney, Martin, Trevor, and Stacey, but he resents their dependence on his wealthy father-in-law. Alison is a local waitress trying to piece her life and marriage to Cole back together after the death of their four-year-old son. The story of the affair is depicted from Noah's and Alison's perspectives respectively, complete with memory bias which often results in vastly different scenarios. Each episode has two parts, one as remembered by Noah, the other by Alison.


title: The Affair (TV series)

text: In the second season, the narrative is expanded to include the perspectives of Noah and Alison's original spouses, Helen and Cole, as they all move forward with the dissolution of their marriages and deal with the ramifications. The subsequent death of Alison's brother-in-law, Scott, and the ensuing police investigation and criminal trial, are explored in flashforward scenes at the end of most episodes. Alison gives birth to her second child, Joanie.


title: The Affair (TV series)

text: The third season is set three years later, following the culmination of the flashforward trial scenes, after Noah is released from prison. Season 3 introduces an occasional perspective, Juliette Le Gall, a professor and Noah's love interest.


title: The Affair (TV series)

text: In the fourth season, Noah has moved to Los Angeles to be closer to his younger children Trevor and Stacey, as Helen and Vik have moved there. Noah is also an English teacher at a charter school where he gets romantically involved with its principal, Janelle Wilson. Cole and Luisa are living together in Montauk, while Alison is working as a grief counselor. Season 4 features opening flashforward sequences, featuring Noah and Cole, in its first four episodes, which ultimately lead to the discovery of Alison's death. The central perspectives of Noah, Helen, Alison and Cole continue, with the latter two reaching their conclusions; a one-off part from Vik's perspective is also featured.


title: The Affair (TV series)

text: The fifth and final season takes place in two different time frames: a present-day storyline including Noah, Helen, and their four children and the other decades later featuring a now-adult Joanie Lockhart returning to Montauk and discovering the truth about her mother's death. The season introduces the perspectives of Joanie and Whitney alongside Noah and Helen, as well as one-off parts from the perspectives of Janelle and Sierra.


title: The Affair (TV series)

text: On February 8, 2013, it was announced that Showtime had ordered a pilot for "The Affair". The network officially picked up the series on January 16, 2014, with a 10-episode order. On November 10, 2014, Showtime renewed the series for a 10-episode second season; however, it was later changed to 12. On December 9, 2015, the series was renewed for a third season. On January 9, 2017, Showtime renewed the series for a fourth season. On July 26, 2018, Showtime announced it had renewed the series for a fifth and final season.


title: The Affair (TV series)

text: Ruth Wilson requested to leave ahead of season four. Although Wilson did not fully disclose the reason for her departure in 2019, "The Hollywood Reporter" did an exposé alleging that Wilson had been uncomfortable with the amount of nudity required for the role and naming showrunner Sarah Treem and executive producer and director Jeffrey Reiner as behaving inappropriately towards actors on set. Treem would later deny the accusations that she had coerced Wilson into nude scenes while admitting that Wilson was not comfortable with the amount of nudity required for the character and that body doubles were frequently used. Treem also corroborated that there had been an investigation into Reiner after he allegedly shared nude photos of a body double with producer, writer and actress Lena Dunham despite the fact that she was not involved in the show in any capacity.


title: The Affair (TV series)

text: After the conclusion of the fourth season and prior to the start of production on the fifth and final season, several series regulars departed the series. Joshua Jackson did not return for the final season. Omar Metwally and Sanaa Lathan appear until episodes 2 and 3 respectively, and are removed from the main cast thereafter. Catalina Sandino Moreno appears in episodes six and seven as a guest star, in both the present-day and flashforward storylines.


title: The Affair (TV series)

text: The first season received praise from critics. On the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the season has a rating of 90%, based on 130 reviews, with an average rating of 8.15/10. The consensus reads: "Thanks to some smart, creative storytelling and spectacular performances, "The Affair" is a somber, bewitching exploration of truth and desire." On Metacritic, the first season has a score of 85 out of 100, based on 28 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".


title: The Affair (TV series)

text: The second season received continued positive reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the season has a rating of 90%, based on 126 reviews, with an average rating of 8/10. The consensus reads: ""The Affair" shifts its emphasis in season two, moving psychological drama to the foreground and expanding the show's central crime story to include two new points of view." On Metacritic, it has a score of 78 out of 100 based on 15 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Gwen Ihnat of "The A.V. Club" gave it an "A−" grade and wrote that "With its bold new move to double our number of perspectives, it appears that "The Affair" will sail over that sophomore slump that has felled so many other Showtime dramas.


title: The Affair (TV series)

text: The third season received positive reviews from critics, although less acclaim than the first two seasons. On Rotten Tomatoes, the season has a rating of 71%, based on 21 reviews, with an average rating of 7.7/10. The consensus reads: ""The Affair" adds to its cast of strong characters and deepens the mood, tension, and intrigue, even if the plot sometimes struggles to move forward." On Metacritic, it has a score of 72 out of 100 based on 8 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".


title: The Affair (TV series)

text: The fourth season received continued positive reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the season has a rating of 91%, based on 23 reviews, with an average rating of 7.4/10. The consensus reads: ""The Affair"s captivating character study returns with fewer kinks than its previous outing, resulting in a more emotionally grounded season that regains much of the show's initial allure."


title: The Affair (TV series)

text: The fifth season received continued positive reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the season has a rating of 88%, based on 16 reviews, with an average rating of 6.6/10. The consensus reads: "As addicting and outlandish as ever, season five proves the perfect farewell for "The Affair"." On Metacritic, it has a score of 77 out of 100 based on 4 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".


title: The Affair (TV series)

text: The first season was released on DVD in region 1 on August 4, 2015. The set contains all 10 episodes, plus special features, including character profiles and costume featurettes. The second season was released on DVD in region 1 on August 16, 2016. The third season was released on DVD in region 1 on April 25, 2017. The fourth season was released on DVD in region 1 on October 16, 2018. The fifth and final season as well as a complete series collection were released on DVD in region 1 on March 10, 2020.


title: The Affair (TV series)

text: In Canada, the series premiered simultaneously with the American broadcast on October 12, 2014, and aired on Movie Central and The Movie Network. The series premiered on Showcase in Australia on February 10, 2015. Sky Atlantic bought the rights to air "The Affair" in the UK with season one beginning in May 2015.


title: Shemale

text: Shemale (also spelled she-male; also she-man and he-she) is a term most commonly used in the pornography industry to describe trans women or other people with male genitalia and female secondary sex characteristics (including breasts) acquired via hormones or surgery. Many people in the transgender community consider the term offensive and degrading. Using the term "shemale" for a trans woman may imply that she is working in the sex trade.


title: Shemale

text: The term has been used by some psychologists to refer to transgender women who have transitioned, but have never undergone genital surgery.


title: Shemale

text: Some biologists have used "shemale" to refer to male non-human animals displaying female traits or behaviors, such as female pheromones being given off by male reptiles. Joan Roughgarden, a biologist and Darwin-critic, rejected use of the term in the reptile literature, as she says it is "degrading and has been borrowed from the porn industry." She writes that "gynomorphic male" and "andromorphic female" are preferred in scientific literature, adding, "I hope future work on these animals is carried out with more professionalism."


title: Shemale

text: Since the mid-19th century, the term "she-male" has been applied to "almost anyone who appears to have bridged gender lines", including effeminate men and lesbians. In the early 19th century, "she-male" was used as a colloquialism in American literature for female, often pejoratively. Davy Crockett is quoted as using the term in regard to a shooting match; when his opponent challenges Davy Crockett to shoot near his opponent's wife, Davy Crockett is reported to have replied: "'No, No, Mike,' sez I, 'Davy Crockett's hand would be sure to shake, if his iron pointed within a hundred miles of a shemale, and I give up beat...'" It was used through the 1920s to describe a woman, usually a feminist or an intellectual.


title: Shemale

text: The term came to have a more negative connotation over time and been used to describe a "hateful woman" or "bitch." Up through the mid-1970s, it was used to describe an assertive woman, "especially a disliked, distrusted woman; a bitch."


title: Shemale

text: The term later took on an implicit sexual overtone. In her 1990 book, "From Masculine To Feminine And All points In Between", Jennifer Anne Stevens defined "she-male" as "usually a gay male who lives full-time as a woman; a gay transgenderist." "The Oxford English Dictionary" defines "she-male" as "a passive male homosexual or transvestite." It has been used as gay slang for "faggot".


title: Shemale

text: In 1979, Janice Raymond employed the term as a derogatory descriptor for transsexual women in her controversial book, "The Transsexual Empire: The Making of the She-Male". Raymond and other cultural feminists like Mary Daly argue that a "she-male" or "male-to-constructed female" is still male and constitutes a patriarchal attack by males upon the female essence. This is often considered to be part of trans-exclusionary radical feminist (TERF) ideology. In some cultures, "shemale" can also be used interchangeably with other terms referring to trans women.


title: Shemale

text: The term has since become a derogatory term applied to trans women. Psychologists Dana Finnegan and Emily Mcnally write that the term "tends to have demeaning connotations." French professor John Phillips writes that "shemale" is "a linguistic oxymoron that simultaneously reflects but, by its very impossibility, challenges [gender] binary thinking, collapsing the divide between the masculine and the feminine." Trans author Leslie Feinberg writes, "'he-she' and 'she-male' describe the person's gender expression with the first pronoun and the birth sex with the second. The hyphenation signals a crisis of language and an apparent social contradiction, since sex and gender are 'supposed' to match." Jack Halberstam, director of the Institute for Research on Women, Gender and Sexuality, describes "she-male" as "a degrading pornographic term". The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation has said the term is a "dehumanizing slur" and should not be used "except in a direct quote that reveals the bias of the person quoted."


title: Shemale

text: Willow Arune wrote, "Using the term "she-male" for a transsexual woman would be considered highly offensive, for it implies that she is working 'in the [sex] trade.' It may be considered libelous." Melissa Hope Ditmore, of the Trafficked Persons Rights Project, notes the term "is an invention of the sex industry, and most transwomen find the term abhorrent." Biologist and transgender activist Julia Serano states that it remains "derogatory or sensationalistic." According to sex columnist Regina Lynn, "Porn marketers use 'she-male' for a very specific purpose — to sell porn to straight guys without triggering their homophobia — that has nothing to do with actual transgendered people (or helping men overcome their homophobia, either)."


title: Shemale

text: Some have adopted the term as a self-descriptor, but this is often in context of sex work. Gender non-conforming author Kate Bornstein wrote that a friend who self-identified as "she-male" described herself as "tits, big hair, lots of make-up, and a dick." Pornographic actress Wendy Williams stated, "I don't think "tranny" and "she-male" are slurs. They were words initially used so the laymen person could understand the products they were buying in porn. There are more issues we have to worry about: suicide, the homeless rate, getting an education and finding jobs as trans women." According to sex columnist Sasha, "The term "shemale" is used in [the pornography] setting to denote a fetishized sexual persona and is not typically used by transgendered women outside of sex work. Many transgendered women are offended by this categorization and call themselves T-girls or trans."


title: Shemale

text: In addition to its use in pornography, the term has been used as a punch line or for rhetorical effect. Flora Finch starred in "The She-Male Sleuth", a 1920 film comedy. As part of the 42nd Street Art Project in 1994, designer Adelle Lutz turned a former shop in Times Square called American Male into "American She-Male", with brightly colored mannequins and clothes made of condoms. The 2004 "Arrested Development" episode "Sad Sack" had a gag where Maeby tricks Lindsay into wearing a shirt that says "Shémale", in order to convince a suitor Lindsay is transgender. Film critic Manohla Dargis has written about the lack of "real women" in summer blockbusters, claiming Judd Apatow comedies feature men who act more like leading ladies: "These aren't the she-males you find in the back pages of "The Village Voice", mind you. The Apatow men hit the screen anatomically intact: they’re emasculated but not castrated, as the repeated images of the flopping genitals in "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" remind you."


title: Shemale

text: The word came under extreme criticism when it was used during episode four of "RuPaul's Drag Race" season 6. Logo TV, the show's broadcast station, released a statement on April 14, 2014 saying: "We wanted to thank the community for sharing their concerns around a recent segment and the use of the term 'she-mail' on Drag Race. Logo has pulled the episode from all of our platforms and that challenge will not appear again. Furthermore, we are removing the 'You've got she-mail' intro from new episodes of the series. We did not intend to cause any offense, but in retrospect we realize that it was insensitive. We sincerely apologize."


title: Nitroglycerin

text: Nitroglycerin (NG), (alternative spelling of nitroglycerine) also known as trinitroglycerin (TNG), nitro, glyceryl trinitrate (GTN), or 1,2,3-trinitroxypropane, is a dense, colorless, oily, explosive liquid most commonly produced by nitrating glycerol with white fuming nitric acid under conditions appropriate to the formation of the nitric acid ester. Chemically, the substance is an organic nitrate compound rather than a nitro compound, but the traditional name is retained. Invented in 1847 by Ascanio Sobrero, nitroglycerin has been used ever since as an active ingredient in the manufacture of explosives, namely dynamite, and as such it is employed in the construction, demolition, and mining industries. Since the 1880s, it has been used by militaries as an active ingredient and gelatinizer for nitrocellulose in some solid propellants such as cordite and ballistite. It is a major component in double-based smokeless propellants used by reloaders. Combined with nitrocellulose, hundreds of powder combinations are used by rifle, pistol, and shotgun reloaders.


title: Nitroglycerin

text: Nitroglycerin has been used for over 130 years in medicine as a potent vasodilator (dilation of the vascular system) to treat heart conditions, such as angina pectoris and chronic heart failure. Though it was previously known that these beneficial effects are due to nitroglycerin being converted to nitric oxide, a potent venodilator, the enzyme for this conversion was only discovered to be mitochondrial aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH2) in 2002. Nitroglycerin is available in sublingual tablets, sprays, ointments, and patches.


title: Nitroglycerin

text: Nitroglycerin was the first practical explosive produced that was stronger than black powder. It was first synthesized by the Italian chemist Ascanio Sobrero in 1847, working under Théophile-Jules Pelouze at the University of Turin. Sobrero initially called his discovery "pyroglycerine" and warned vigorously against its use as an explosive.


title: Nitroglycerin

text: Nitroglycerin was later adopted as a commercially useful explosive by Alfred Nobel, who experimented with safer ways to handle the dangerous compound after his younger brother, Emil Oskar Nobel, and several factory workers were killed in an explosion at the Nobels' armaments factory in 1864 in Heleneborg, Sweden.


title: Nitroglycerin

text: One year later, Nobel founded Alfred Nobel and Company in Germany and built an isolated factory in the Krümmel hills of Geesthacht near Hamburg. This business exported a liquid combination of nitroglycerin and gunpowder called "Blasting Oil", but this was extremely unstable and difficult to handle, as evidenced in numerous catastrophes. The buildings of the Krümmel factory were destroyed twice.


title: Nitroglycerin

text: In April 1866, three crates of nitroglycerin were shipped to California for the Central Pacific Railroad, which planned to experiment with it as a blasting explosive to expedite the construction of the Summit Tunnel through the Sierra Nevada Mountains. One of the crates exploded, destroying a Wells Fargo company office in San Francisco and killing 15 people. This led to a complete ban on the transportation of liquid nitroglycerin in California. The on-site manufacture of nitroglycerin was thus required for the remaining hard-rock drilling and blasting required for the completion of the First transcontinental railroad in North America.


title: Nitroglycerin

text: In June 1869, two one-ton wagons loaded with nitroglycerin, then known locally as Powder-Oil, exploded in the road at the North Wales village of Cwm-y-glo. The explosion led to the loss of six lives, many injuries and much damage to the village. Little trace was found of the two horses. The UK Government was so alarmed at the damage caused and what could have happened in a city location (these two tons were part of a larger load coming from Germany via Liverpool) that they soon passed The Nitro-Glycerine Act of 1869. Liquid nitroglycerin was widely banned elsewhere, as well, and these legal restrictions led to Alfred Nobel and his company's developing dynamite in 1867. This was made by mixing nitroglycerin with diatomaceous earth (""Kieselguhr"" in German) found in the Krümmel hills. Similar mixtures, such as "dualine" (1867), "lithofracteur" (1869), and "gelignite" (1875), were formed by mixing nitroglycerin with other inert absorbents, and many combinations were tried by other companies in attempts to get around Nobel's tightly held patents for dynamite.


title: Nitroglycerin

text: Dynamite mixtures containing nitrocellulose, which increases the viscosity of the mix, are commonly known as "gelatins".


title: Nitroglycerin

text: Following the discovery that amyl nitrite helped alleviate chest pain, the physician William Murrell experimented with the use of nitroglycerin to alleviate angina pectoris and to reduce the blood pressure. He began treating his patients with small diluted doses of nitroglycerin in 1878, and this treatment was soon adopted into widespread use after Murrell published his results in the journal "The Lancet" in 1879. A few months before his death in 1896, Alfred Nobel was prescribed nitroglycerin for this heart condition, writing to a friend: "Isn't it the irony of fate that I have been prescribed nitro-glycerin, to be taken internally! They call it Trinitrin, so as not to scare the chemist and the public." The medical establishment also used the name "glyceryl trinitrate" for the same reason.


title: Nitroglycerin

text: Large quantities of nitroglycerin were manufactured during World War I and World War II for use as military propellants and in military engineering work. During World War I, HM Factory, Gretna, the largest propellant factory in the United Kingdom, produced about 800 tonnes of cordite RDB per week. This amount required at least 336 tonnes of nitroglycerin per week (assuming no losses in production). The Royal Navy had its own factory at the Royal Navy Cordite Factory, Holton Heath, in Dorset, England. A large cordite factory was also built in Canada during World War I. The Canadian Explosives Limited cordite factory at Nobel, Ontario, was designed to produce of cordite per month, requiring about 286 tonnes of nitroglycerin per month.


title: Nitroglycerin

text: In its undiluted form, nitroglycerin is a contact explosive, with physical shock causing it to explode. If it has not been adequately purified during manufacture it can degrade over time to even more unstable forms. This makes nitroglycerin highly dangerous to transport or use. In its undiluted form, it is one of the world's most powerful explosives, comparable to the more recently developed RDX and PETN.


title: Nitroglycerin

text: Early in its history, liquid nitroglycerin was found to be "desensitized" by freezing it at a temperature below depending on its purity. Its sensitivity to shock while frozen is somewhat unpredictable: "It is more insensitive to the shock from a fulminate cap or a rifle ball when in that condition but on the other hand it appears to be more liable to explode on breaking, crushing, tamping, etc." Frozen nitroglycerine is much less energetic than liquid, and so must be thawed before use. Thawing it out can be extremely sensitizing, especially if impurities are present or the warming is too rapid. Ethylene glycol dinitrate or another polynitrate may be added to lower the melting point and thereby avoid the necessity of thawing frozen explosive.


title: Nitroglycerin

text: Chemically "desensitizing" nitroglycerin is possible to a point where it can be considered about as "safe" as modern high explosives, such as by the addition of ethanol, acetone, or dinitrotoluene. The nitroglycerin may have to be extracted from the desensitizer chemical to restore its effectiveness before use, for example by adding water to draw off ethanol used as a desensitizer.


title: Nitroglycerin

text: Nitroglycerin and any diluents can deflagrate (burn). The explosive power of nitroglycerin derives from detonation: energy from the initial decomposition causes a strong pressure wave that detonates the surrounding fuel. This is a self-sustained shock wave that propagates through the explosive medium at 30 times the speed of sound as a near-instantaneous pressure-induced decomposition of the fuel into a white-hot gas. Detonation of nitroglycerin generates gases that would occupy more than 1,200 times the original volume at ordinary room temperature and pressure. The heat liberated raises the temperature to about . This is entirely different from deflagration, which depends solely upon available fuel regardless of pressure or shock. The decomposition results in a much higher ratio of energy to gas moles released compared to other explosives, making it one of the hottest detonating high explosives.


title: Nitroglycerin

text: The industrial manufacturing process often reacts glycerol with a nearly 1:1 mixture of concentrated sulfuric acid and concentrated nitric acid. This can be produced by mixing white fuming nitric acid—a quite expensive pure nitric acid in which the oxides of nitrogen have been removed, as opposed to red fuming nitric acid, which contains nitrogen oxides—and concentrated sulfuric acid. More often, this mixture is attained by the cheaper method of mixing fuming sulfuric acid, also known as oleum—sulfuric acid containing excess sulfur trioxide—and azeotropic nitric acid (consisting of about 70% nitric acid, with the rest being water).


title: Nitroglycerin

text: The sulfuric acid produces protonated nitric acid species, which are attacked by glycerol's nucleophilic oxygen atoms. The nitro group is thus added as an ester C−O−NO and water is produced. This is different from an electrophilic aromatic substitution reaction in which nitronium ions are the electrophile.


title: Nitroglycerin

text: The addition of glycerol results in an exothermic reaction (i.e., heat is produced), as usual for mixed-acid nitrations. If the mixture becomes too hot, it results in a runaway reaction, a state of accelerated nitration accompanied by the destructive oxidation of organic materials by the hot nitric acid and the release of poisonous nitrogen dioxide gas at high risk of an explosion. Thus, the glycerin mixture is added slowly to the reaction vessel containing the mixed acid (not acid to glycerin). The nitrator is cooled with cold water or some other coolant mixture and maintained throughout the glycerin addition at about , hot enough for esterification to occur at a fast rate but cold enough to avoid runaway reaction. The nitrator vessel, often constructed of iron or lead and generally stirred with compressed air, has an emergency trap door at its base, which hangs over a large pool of very cold water and into which the whole reaction mixture (called the charge) can be dumped to prevent an explosion, a process referred to as drowning. If the temperature of the charge exceeds about (actual value varying by country) or brown fumes are seen in the nitrator's vent, then it is immediately drowned.


title: Nitroglycerin

text: Alfred Nobel developed the use of nitroglycerin as a blasting explosive by mixing nitroglycerin with inert absorbents, particularly ""Kieselgur"", or diatomaceous earth. He named this explosive dynamite and patented it in 1867. It was supplied ready for use in the form of sticks, individually wrapped in greased waterproof paper. Dynamite and similar explosives were widely adopted for civil engineering tasks, such as in drilling highway and railroad tunnels, for mining, for clearing farmland of stumps, in quarrying, and in demolition work. Likewise, military engineers have used dynamite for construction and demolition work.


title: Nitroglycerin

text: Nitroglycerin has been used in conjunction with hydraulic fracturing, a process used to recover oil and gas from shale formations. The technique involves displacing and detonating nitroglycerin in natural or hydraulically induced fracture systems, or displacing and detonating nitroglycerin in hydraulically induced fractures followed by wellbore shots using pelletized TNT.


title: Nitroglycerin

text: Nitroglycerin has an advantage over some other high explosives that on detonation it produces practically no visible smoke. Therefore, it is useful as an ingredient in the formulation of various kinds of smokeless powder.


title: Nitroglycerin

text: Its sensitivity has limited the usefulness of nitroglycerin as a military explosive, and less sensitive explosives such as TNT, RDX, and HMX have largely replaced it in munitions. It remains important in military engineering, and combat engineers still use dynamite.


title: Nitroglycerin

text: Alfred Nobel then developed ballistite, by combining nitroglycerin and guncotton. He patented it in 1887. Ballistite was adopted by a number of European governments, as a military propellant. Italy was the first to adopt it. The British government and the Commonwealth governments adopted cordite instead, which had been developed by Sir Frederick Abel and Sir James Dewar of the United Kingdom in 1889. The original Cordite Mk I consisted of 58% nitroglycerin, 37% guncotton, and 5.0% petroleum jelly. Ballistite and cordite were both manufactured in the form of "cords".


title: Nitroglycerin

text: Smokeless powders were originally developed using nitrocellulose as the sole explosive ingredient. Therefore, they were known as single-base propellants. A range of smokeless powders that contains both nitrocellulose and nitroglycerin, known as double-base propellants, were also developed. Smokeless powders were originally supplied only for military use, but they were also soon developed for civilian use and were quickly adopted for sports. Some are known as sporting powders. Triple-base propellants contain nitrocellulose, nitroglycerin, and nitroguanidine, but are reserved mainly for extremely high-caliber ammunition rounds such as those used in tank cannons and naval artillery. Blasting gelatin, also known as gelignite, was invented by Nobel in 1875, using nitroglycerin, wood pulp, and sodium or potassium nitrate. This was an early, low-cost, flexible explosive.


title: Nitroglycerin

text: Nitroglycerin belongs to a group of drugs called nitrates, which includes many other nitrates like isosorbide dinitrate (Isordil) and isosorbide mononitrate (Imdur, Ismo, Monoket). These agents all exert their effect by being converted to nitric oxide in the body by mitochondrial aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH2), and nitric oxide is a potent natural vasodilator.


title: Nitroglycerin

text: In medicine, nitroglycerin is probably most commonly prescribed for angina pectoris, a painful symptom of ischemic heart disease caused by inadequate flow of blood and oxygen to the heart and as a potent antihypertensive agent. Nitroglycerin corrects the imbalance between the flow of oxygen and blood to the heart and the heart’s energy demand. There are plenty of formulations on the market at different doses. At low doses, nitroglycerin dilates veins more than arteries, thereby reducing preload (volume of blood in the heart after filling); this is thought to be its primary mechanism of action. By decreasing preload, the heart has less blood to pump, which decreases oxygen requirement since the heart does not have to work as hard. Additionally, having a smaller preload reduces the ventricular transmural pressure (pressure exerted on the walls of the heart), which decreases the compression of heart arteries to allow more blood to flow through the heart. At higher doses, it also dilates arteries, thereby reducing afterload (decreasing the pressure against which the heart must pump). An improved ratio of myocardial oxygen demand to supply leads to the following therapeutic effects during episodes of angina pectoris: subsiding of chest pain, decrease of blood pressure, increase of heart rate, and orthostatic hypotension. Patients experiencing angina when doing certain physical activities can often prevent symptoms by taking nitroglycerin 5 to 10 minutes before the activity. Overdoses may generate methemoglobinemia.


title: Nitroglycerin

text: Nitroglycerin is available in tablets, ointment, solution for intravenous use, transdermal patches, or sprays administered sublingually. Some forms of nitroglycerin last much longer in the body than others. Nitroglycerin as well as the onset and duration of action of each form is different. The sublingual or tablet spray of nitroglycerin has a two minute onset and twenty five minute duration of action. The oral formulation of nitroglycerin has a thirty five minute onset and a duration of action of 4-8 hours. The transdermal patch has an onset of thirty minutes and a duration of action of ten to twelve hours. Continuous exposure to nitrates has been shown to cause the body to stop responding normally to this medicine. Experts recommend that the patches be removed at night, allowing the body a few hours to restore its responsiveness to nitrates. Shorter-acting preparations of nitroglycerin can be used several times a day with less risk of developing tolerance. Nitroglycerin was first used by William Murrell to treat angina attacks in 1878, with the discovery published that same year.


title: Nitroglycerin

text: Infrequent exposure to high doses of nitroglycerin can cause severe headaches known as "NG head" or "bang head". These headaches can be severe enough to incapacitate some people; however, humans develop a tolerance to and dependence on nitroglycerin after long-term exposure. Although rare, withdrawal can be fatal. Withdrawal symptoms include chest pain and other heart problems. These symptoms may be relieved with re-exposure to nitroglycerin or other suitable organic nitrates.


title: Nitroglycerin

text: For workers in nitroglycerin (NTG) manufacturing facilities, the effects of withdrawal sometimes include "Sunday heart attacks" in those experiencing regular nitroglycerin exposure in the workplace, leading to the development of tolerance for the venodilating effects. Over the weekend, the workers lose the tolerance, and when they are re-exposed on Monday, the drastic vasodilation produces a fast heart rate, dizziness, and a headache. This is referred to as "Monday disease."


title: Nitroglycerin

text: People can be exposed to nitroglycerin in the workplace by breathing it in, skin absorption, swallowing it, or eye contact. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has set the legal limit (permissible exposure limit) for nitroglycerin exposure in the workplace as 0.2 ppm (2 mg/m) skin exposure over an 8-hour workday. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health has set a recommended exposure limit of 0.1 mg/m skin exposure over an 8-hour workday. At levels of 75 mg/m, nitroglycerin is immediately dangerous to life and health.


title: Danny Pudi

text: Daniel Mark Pudi (born March 10, 1979) is an American actor. His roles include Abed Nadir on the NBC sitcom "Community" (2009–2015), for which he received three nominations for the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series and one nomination for the TCA Award for Individual Achievement in Comedy. Since 2020 he has starred as Brad Bakshi in the Apple TV+ comedy series "Mythic Quest". He was the voice of Huey Duck on the 2017 reboot of "DuckTales".


title: Danny Pudi

text: Daniel Mark Pudi was born in Chicago on March 10, 1979, the son of programmer and analyst Teresa (née Komendant) and Abraham L. Pudi (1955–2018). His parents immigrated to the U.S. and became naturalized citizens: his mother came from the village of Pokośno, Poland, and his father came from the village of Poduru, India, and was from a Telugu Christian family. Pudi grew up speaking Polish with his mother and grandmother.


title: Danny Pudi

text: He grew up on the South Side of Chicago with brother Adam and sister Katherine but attended Notre Dame College Prep in Niles, a northern suburb. In 2013, he gave the commencement address at Notre Dame College Prep.


title: Danny Pudi

text: Pudi studied dance in Chicago and attended Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, graduating with a degree in communication and theatre in 2001. At Marquette, he was the first winner of the Chris Farley Scholarship. Beyond paying for a year of school, the scholarship led to him performing at an improv comedy event featuring Jim Breuer and Dave Chappelle, increasing his interest in studying improv. After Marquette, he performed in summer stock theatre in Wisconsin, studied at The Second City in Chicago., and joined "Stir Friday Night!", a sketch comedy ensemble of Asian-American performers. Other SFN alumni include Steven Yeun.


title: Danny Pudi

text: Pudi became a recruiter for an executive search firm before moving to Los Angeles in 2005 to seek television and film roles. His job, whereby he was a remote worker, permitted him to attend auditions, helping him avoid the "struggling actor thing in terms of waiting tables, temping and so on". He performed in several television pilots before joining the cast of "Community," which he starred in for six seasons from 2009 to 2015.


title: Danny Pudi

text: He has appeared in multiple television advertisements for such products as Snickers, Verizon, McDonald's, T-Mobile, "Pokémon", and "Far Cry 4". In 2012, he appeared as a celebrity contestant on GSN's version of "The Pyramid" with fellow "Community" cast member Yvette Nicole Brown.


title: Danny Pudi

text: In film, he portrayed Arash in the comedy film "", and starred in the comedy horror film "Knights of Badassdom", which was one of the highlights of Comic Con 2011, according to HitFix.com. He starred in the Jones Street Station music video for "The Understanding". He has made cameo appearances in many internet videos, including BriTANicK's "A Monologue for Three". Pudi had a cameo appearance in "", and the live episode of "Hot in Cleveland", as well as a cameo in "Star Trek Beyond".


title: Danny Pudi

text: In the autumn of 2014, Pudi appeared in the off-Broadway musical "FOUND". He played the lead role in "The Tiger Hunter", an independent film directed by Lena Khan in 2016 and funded through a Kickstarter campaign. In 2017, Pudi began voicing Huey Duck in the "DuckTales" reboot. He also appeared as Teddy on the NBC sitcom "Powerless" in the same year.


title: Danny Pudi

text: Pudi plays Brad Bakshi in the TV series "", which premiered in February 2020. His theater performance for En Garde Arts' series Uncommon Voices was made public in August 2020. The work in progress, entitled "Running", tackles his attempt to piece together his relationship with his father, which affected his personal identity, cultural background, and his experience with racism throughout his personal life and career.


title: Danny Pudi

text: He reunited with "Community" co-star Alison Brie in the 2022 film "Somebody I Used to Know", written by Brie.


title: Danny Pudi

text: Pudi is married to Bridget Showalter. They met while attending Marquette University in their freshman year. Their twins, a son and a daughter, were born in January 2012. Pudi is also a runner and has completed several marathons.


title: Hives

text: Hives, also known as urticaria, is a kind of skin rash with red, raised, itchy bumps. Hives may burn or sting. The patches of rash may appear on different body parts, with variable duration from minutes to days, and does not leave any long-lasting skin change. Fewer than 5% of cases last for more than six weeks. The condition frequently recurs.


title: Hives

text: Hives frequently occur following an infection or as a result of an allergic reaction such as to medication, insect bites, or food. Psychological stress, cold temperature, or vibration may also be a trigger. In half of cases the cause remains unknown. Risk factors include having conditions such as hay fever or asthma. Diagnosis is typically based on the appearance. Patch testing may be useful to determine the allergy.


title: Hives

text: Prevention is by avoiding whatever it is that causes the condition. Treatment is typically with antihistamines such as diphenhydramine and cetirizine. In severe cases, corticosteroids or leukotriene inhibitors may also be used. Keeping the environmental temperature cool is also useful. For cases that last more than six weeks immunosuppressants such as ciclosporin may be used.


title: Hives

text: About 20% of people are affected. Cases of short duration occur equally in males and females while cases of long duration are more common in females. Cases of short duration are more common among children while cases of long duration are more common among those who are middle aged. Hives have been described at least since the time of Hippocrates. The term urticaria is from the Latin "urtica" meaning "nettle".


title: Hives

text: Hives, or urticaria, is a form of skin rash with red, raised, itchy bumps. They may also burn or sting. Welts (raised areas surrounded by a red base) from hives can appear anywhere on the surface of the skin. Whether the trigger is allergic or not, a complex release of inflammatory mediators, including histamine from cutaneous mast cells, results in fluid leakage from superficial blood vessels. Welts may be pinpoint in size or several inches in diameter. Often the patches of rash move around.


title: Hives

text: About 20% of people are affected. Cases of short duration occur equally in males and females, lasting a few days and without leaving any long-lasting skin changes. Cases of long duration are more common in females. Cases of short duration are more common among children while cases of long duration are more common among those who are middle aged. Fewer than 5% of cases last for more than six weeks. The condition frequently recurs. In half of cases of hives, the cause remains unknown.


title: Hives

text: Angioedema is a related condition (also from allergic and nonallergic causes), though fluid leakage is from much deeper blood vessels in the subcutaneous or submucosal layers. Individual hives that are painful, last more than 24 hours, or leave a bruise as they heal are more likely to be a more serious condition called urticarial vasculitis. Hives caused by stroking the skin (often linear in appearance) are due to a benign condition called dermatographic urticaria.


title: Hives

text: Hives can also be classified by the purported causative agent. Many different substances in the environment may cause hives, including medications, food and physical agents. In perhaps more than 50% of people with chronic hives of unknown cause, it is due to an autoimmune reaction. Risk factors include having conditions such as hay fever or asthma.


title: Hives

text: Drugs that have caused allergic reactions evidenced as hives include codeine, sulphate of morphia, dextroamphetamine, aspirin, ibuprofen, penicillin, clotrimazole, trichazole, sulfonamides, anticonvulsants, cefaclor, piracetam, vaccines, and antidiabetic drugs. The antidiabetic sulphonylurea glimepiride, in particular, has been documented to induce allergic reactions manifesting as hives.


title: Hives

text: The most common food allergies in adults are shellfish and nuts. The most common food allergies in children are shellfish, nuts, eggs, wheat, and soy. One study showed Balsam of Peru, which is in many processed foods, to be the most common cause of immediate contact urticaria. Another food allergy that can cause hives is alpha-gal allergy, which may cause sensitivity to milk and red meat. A less common cause is exposure to certain bacteria, such as "Streptococcus" species or possibly "Helicobacter pylori".


title: Hives

text: Hives including chronic spontaneous hives can be a complication and symptom of a parasitic infection, such as blastocystosis and strongyloidiasis among others.


title: Hives

text: The rash that develops from poison ivy, poison oak, and poison sumac contact is commonly mistaken for urticaria. This rash is caused by contact with urushiol and results in a form of contact dermatitis called urushiol-induced contact dermatitis. Urushiol is spread by contact but can be washed off with a strong grease- or oil-dissolving detergent and cool water and rubbing ointments.


title: Hives

text: Dermatographic urticaria (also known as dermatographism or "skin writing") is marked by the appearance of weals or welts on the skin as a result of scratching or firm stroking of the skin. Seen in 4–5% of the population, it is one of the most common types of urticaria, in which the skin becomes raised and inflamed when stroked, scratched, rubbed, and sometimes even slapped.


title: Hives

text: The skin reaction usually becomes evident soon after the scratching and disappears within 30 minutes. Dermatographism is the most common form of a subset of chronic hives, acknowledged as "physical hives".


title: Hives

text: It stands in contrast to the linear reddening that does not itch seen in healthy people who are scratched. In most cases, the cause is unknown, although it may be preceded by a viral infection, antibiotic therapy, or emotional upset. Dermatographism is diagnosed by applying pressure by stroking or scratching the skin. The hives should develop within a few minutes. Unless the skin is highly sensitive and reacts continually, treatment is not needed. Taking antihistamines can reduce the response in cases that are annoying to the person.


title: Hives

text: This type of hives can occur right away, precisely after a pressure stimulus or as a deferred response to sustained pressure being enforced to the skin. In the deferred form, the hives only appear after about six hours from the initial application of pressure to the skin. Under normal circumstances, these hives are not the same as those witnessed with most urticariae. Instead, the protrusion in the affected areas is typically more spread out. The hives may last from eight hours to three days. The source of the pressure on the skin can happen from tight fitted clothing, belts, clothing with tough straps, walking, leaning against an object, standing, sitting on a hard surface, etc. The areas of the body most commonly affected are the hands, feet, trunk, abdomen, buttocks, legs and face. Although this appears to be very similar to dermatographism, the cardinal difference is that the swelled skin areas do not become visible quickly and tend to last much longer. This form of the skin disease is, however, rare.


title: Hives

text: Cholinergic urticaria (CU) is one of the physical urticaria which is provoked during sweating events such as exercise, bathing, staying in a heated environment, or emotional stress. The hives produced are typically smaller than classic hives and are generally shorter-lasting.


title: Hives

text: The cold type of urticaria is caused by exposure of the skin to extreme cold, damp and windy conditions; it occurs in two forms. The rare form is hereditary and becomes evident as hives all over the body 9 to 18 hours after cold exposure. The common form of cold urticaria demonstrates itself with the rapid onset of hives on the face, neck, or hands after exposure to cold. Cold urticaria is common and lasts for an average of five to six years. The population most affected is young adults, between 18 and 25 years old. Many people with the condition also have dermographism and cholinergic hives.


title: Hives

text: Severe reactions can be seen with exposure to cold water; swimming in cold water is the most common cause of a severe reaction. This can cause a massive discharge of histamine, resulting in low blood pressure, fainting, shock and even loss of life. Cold urticaria is diagnosed by dabbing an ice cube against the skin of the forearm for 1 to 5 minutes. A distinct hive should develop if a person has cold urticaria. This is different from the normal redness that can be seen in people without cold urticaria. People with cold urticaria need to learn to protect themselves from a hasty drop in body temperature. Regular antihistamines are not generally efficacious. One particular antihistamine, cyproheptadine (Periactin), has been found to be useful. The tricyclic antidepressant doxepin has been found to be effective blocking agents of histamine. Finally, a medication named ketotifen, which keeps mast cells from discharging histamine, has also been employed with widespread success.


title: Hives

text: This form of the disease occurs on areas of the skin exposed to the sun; the condition becomes evident within minutes of exposure.