title: Lexus SC

text: In 2005 for the 2006 model year, the SC 430 was updated, with changes that included redesigned alloy wheels and the introduction of Bluetooth capability. In late 2005, the SC 430 premiered along with the Lexus marque in Japan; it was manufactured at the Kanji (Kanto Jidosha) assembly site in Japan. The SC 430 was sold in North America, Europe, Oceania, and Asia; unlike its predecessor, the SC 430 was officially imported to the British Isles; the old SC 400 had been a popular personal grey import.


title: Lexus SC

text: In 2010, a final special edition model for Japan, the SC 430 Eternal Jewel edition, was produced, limited to 200 units. The 2010 model was the last automobile from any major manufacturer in the United States to ship with a cassette tape deck.


title: Lexus SC

text: Production of the second-generation SC ended in July 2010 after nine years of production, but Lexus was still using them in the Super GT until the 2013 season ended.


title: Lexus SC

text: In July 2008, Edmunds InsideLine had reported that Lexus had cancelled the next generation SC due to slowing sales. A company spokesman did not confirm or deny the rumors, but called the report in the possible replacement with the introduction of the Lexus LFA as "unfounded speculation." Lexus subsequently announced the production of the SC 430 model for 2009, and in 2010.


title: Lexus SC

text: Designated LF-LC for "Lexus Future-Luxury Coupe", the concept two-door vehicle premiered in January 2012 at the North American International Auto Show. The vehicle's exterior and interior styling was created by the Calty Design Research center in Newport Beach, California, which previously developed the exterior styling of the first-generation Lexus SC coupe.


title: Lexus SC

text: The LF-LC features a front-engine, rear-wheel drive drivetrain layout, which incorporates a next-generation Advanced Lexus Hybrid Drive system. The interior features a remote touchscreen control system linked to two liquid crystal display (LCD) screens that measure in width. Smartphone-size touchscreens are placed on the door armrests for additional controls.


title: Lexus SC

text: The LF-LC was produced as a design study for a driver-focused vehicle at the direction of the Lexus Center in Japan, and work began on the concept in May 2010. The exterior appearance of the LF-LC was inadvertently leaked by "Road & Track" magazine several weeks prior to its scheduled auto show debut, when a preview of its February 2012 issue with the LF-LC on its cover (under the headline "Stunning! New Lexus Super Coupe") was posted to YouTube.


title: Lexus SC

text: A series production model inspired by the 2012 LF-LC Concept is being developed under the Toyota 950A development program. Introduced at the 2016 North American International Auto Show, it went on sale as the Lexus LC 500 in early 2017, based on the new Toyota GA-L modular rear-wheel drive platform and the fifth generation LS flagship.


title: Lexus SC

text: In 2006 the SC 430 was entered in the (Super GT) race series in the GT500 class (cars with approximately 500 horsepower). Extensively modified from the factory car, the engine used is a modified version of the SC 430's "3UZ-FE" V8 that was also used in the Toyota Supra racing car from previous years.


title: Lexus SC

text: The new SC 430 based race cars were immediately competitive with former GT500 champion Juichi Wakisaka and no. 2 driver André Lotterer driving the Open Interface TOM's SC to victory at the opening round at Suzuka giving the SC 430 its first victory on its debut race. Juichi Wakisaka and Andre Lotterer also won the GT500 class championship during the same year. In 2007, the Lexus SC fully replaced Supras in the Toyota side, a Zent Cerumo SC 430 driven by Yuji Tachikawa was victorious in the GT500 opening round race.


title: Lexus SC

text: In 2008, a Zent Cerumo SC 430 driven by Yuji Tachikawa and Richard Lyons won the Fuji 500 race, round 3 of the Autobacs Super GT at Fuji Speedway. In 2009, five SC 430s were entered in Super GT racing in the GT500 class, including the Petronas TOM's SC 430 driven by Juichi Wakisaka and André Lotterer, along with the Eneos SC 430, Kraft SC 430, Dunlop Sard SC 430, and Zent Cerumo SC 430.


title: Lexus SC

text: In 2009, the Lexus Team Petronas TOM's SC 430 driven by André Lotterer and Juichi Wakisaka was the championship winner in the GT500 series, also the SC 430 was victorious in early rounds at the Suzuka Circuit. In 2010, the SC 430 continued in Super GT competition, where the MJ Kraft SC 430 and other Lexus Team Kraft SC 430s won victories at the 2010 Autobacs Super GT at Fuji Speedway. Starting from 2009 until 2013, the SC 430s used Toyota's 3.4L "RV8KG" V8 engine.


title: Lexus SC

text: In 2012, two years after production had ended the 430 continued to be a force in Motorsports. Namely in Formula Drift with the Achilles Radial Lexus SC430 powered by a 2JZ and piloted by Daigo Saito.


title: Connacht

text: Connacht ( ; or ), is one of the provinces of Ireland, in the west of Ireland. Until the ninth century it consisted of several independent major Gaelic kingdoms (Uí Fiachrach, Uí Briúin, Uí Maine, Conmhaícne, and Delbhna).


title: Connacht

text: Between the reigns of Conchobar mac Taidg Mór (died 882) and his descendant, Aedh mac Ruaidri Ó Conchobair (reigned 1228–33), it became a kingdom under the rule of the Uí Briúin Aí dynasty, whose ruling sept adopted the surname Ua Conchobair. At its greatest extent, it incorporated the often independent Kingdom of Breifne, as well as vassalage from the lordships of western Mide and west Leinster. Two of its greatest kings, Tairrdelbach Ua Conchobair (1088–1156) and his son Ruaidri Ua Conchobair (c. 1115–1198) greatly expanded the kingdom's dominance, so much so that both became High King of Ireland.


title: Connacht

text: The Kingdom of Connacht collapsed in the 1230s because of civil war within the royal dynasty, which enabled widespread Hiberno-Norman settlement under Richard Mór de Burgh, 1st Baron of Connaught, and his successors. The Norman colony in Connacht shrank from c. 1300 to c. 1360, with events such as the 1307 battle of Ahascragh (see Donnchad Muimnech Ó Cellaigh), the 1316 Second Battle of Athenry and the murder in June 1333 of William Donn de Burgh, 3rd Earl of Ulster, all leading to Gaelic resurgence and colonial withdrawal to towns such as Ballinrobe, Loughrea, Athenry, and Galway. Well into the 16th century, kingdoms such as Uí Maine and Tír Fhíacrach Múaidhe remained beyond English control, while many Norman families such as de Burgh, de Bermingham, de Exeter, de Staunton, became entirely Gaelicised. Only in the late 1500s, during the Tudor conquest of Ireland, was Connacht shired into its present counties.


title: Connacht

text: Connacht's population was 1,418,859 in 1841. Then came the Great Famine of the 1840s, which began a 120-year decline to under 400,000. The province has a population of just under 590,000 according to the preliminary results of the 2022 census.


title: Connacht

text: British cultural imperialism was weaker in the west of Ireland, and Connacht today has the highest number of Irish language speakers among the four Irish provinces. Currently, the total percentage of people who consider themselves as Irish speakers in Connacht is 39.8% (more than 202,000 persons). There are Gaeltacht areas in Counties Galway and Mayo.


title: Connacht

text: The province of Connacht has no official function for local government purposes, but it is an officially recognised subdivision of the Irish state. It is listed on ISO-3166-2 as one of the four provinces of Ireland and "IE-C" is attributed to Connacht as its country sub-division code. Along with counties from other provinces, Connacht lies in the Midlands–North-West constituency for elections to the European Parliament.


title: Connacht

text: The name comes from the medieval ruling dynasty, the "Connacht", later Connachta, whose name means "descendants of Conn", from the mythical king Conn of the Hundred Battles. The name of the province in the Irish language is "Connachta". Originally "Connacht" was a singular collective noun, but it came to be used only in the plural "Connachta", partly by analogy with plural names of other dynastic territories like Ulaid and Laigin, and partly because the Connachta split into different branches. Before the Connachta dynasty, the province ("cúige", "fifth") was known as Cóiced Ol nEchmacht. In Modern Irish, the province is usually called "Cúige Chonnacht", "the Province of Connacht", where "Chonnacht" is plural genitive case with lenition of the "C" to "Ch".


title: Connacht

text: The usual English spelling in Ireland since the Gaelic revival is "Connacht", the spelling of the disused Irish singular. The official English spelling during English and British rule was the anglicisation Connaught, pronounced or . This was used for the Connaught Rangers in the British Army; in the title of Queen Victoria's son Arthur, Duke of Connaught; and the Connaught Hotel, London, named after the Duke in 1917. Usage of the Connaught spelling is now in decline. State bodies use "Connacht", for example in Central Statistics Office census reports since 1926, and the name of the Connacht–Ulster European Parliament constituency of 1979–2004, although "Connaught" occurs in some statutes. Among newspapers, the "Connaught Telegraph" (founded 1830) retains the anglicised spelling in its name, whereas the "Connacht Tribune" (founded 1909) uses the Gaelic. Connacht Rugby who represent the region and are based in Galway, use the Gaelic spelling also.


title: Connacht

text: The province is divided into five traditional counties, the fewest of any province. These are: Galway, Leitrim, Mayo, Roscommon and Sligo. Connacht is the smallest of the four Irish provinces both in terms of size and population. Galway is the only official city in the province.


title: Connacht

text: The highest point of Connacht is Mweelrea (814 m), in County Mayo. The largest island in Connacht (and Ireland) is Achill. The biggest lake is Lough Corrib.


title: Connacht

text: Much of the west coast (e.g. Connemara and Erris) is ruggedly inhospitable and not conducive for agriculture. It contains the main mountainous areas in Connacht, including the Twelve Bens, Maumturks, Mweelrea, Croagh Patrick, Nephin Beg, Ox Mountains, and Dartry Mountains.


title: Connacht

text: Killary Harbour, one of Ireland's fjords (the others being Carlingford Lough and Lough Swilly), is located at the foot of Mweelrea. Connemara National Park is in County Galway. The Aran Islands, featuring prehistoric forts such as Dún Aonghasa, have been a regular tourist destination since the 19th century.


title: Connacht

text: Inland areas such as east Galway, Roscommon and Sligo have enjoyed greater historical population density due to better agricultural land and infrastructure.


title: Connacht

text: Rivers and lakes include the River Moy, River Corrib, the Shannon, Lough Mask, Lough Melvin, Lough Allen and Lough Gill.


title: Connacht

text: The largest urban area in Connacht is Galway, with a population of 79,934. Other large towns in Connacht are Sligo (19,199), Castlebar (12,068) and Ballina (10,171).


title: Connacht

text: Up to the early historic era, Connacht then included County Clare, and was known as Cóiced Ol nEchmacht. Later myths state the Fir Bolg ruled all Ireland before the Tuatha Dé Danann arrived. When the Fir Bolg were defeated, the Tuatha Dé Danann drove them to Connacht. Sites such as the Céide Fields, Knocknarea, Listoghil, Carrowkeel Megalithic Cemetery and Rathcroghan, all demonstrate intensive occupation of Connacht far back into prehistory. Enigmatic artefacts such as the Turoe stone and the Castlestrange stone, whatever their purpose, denote the ambition and achievement of those societies, and their contact with the La Tène culture of mainland Europe. In the early historic era (c. A.D. 300 – c. A.D. 600), Ol nEchmacht was not a united kingdom but a region. It comprised dozens of major and minor túath; rulers of larger túatha (Maigh Seóla, Uí Maine, Aidhne and Máenmaige) were accorded high-king status, while peoples such as the Gailenga, Corco Moga and Senchineoil were lesser peoples given the status of Déisi. All were termed kingdoms, but according to a graded status, denoting each according the likes of lord, count, earl, king.


title: Connacht

text: By the 5th century, the pre-historic nations such as the Auteini and Nagnatae – recorded by Ptolemy (c. AD 90 – c. 168) in "Geography" – gave way to dynasties. This is demonstrated in the noun "moccu" in names such as Muirchu moccu Machtheni, which indicated a person was "of the Machtheni people." As evidenced by kings such as Mac Cairthinn mac Coelboth (died 446) and Ailill Molt (died c. 482), even by the 5th century the gens was giving way to kinship all over Ireland, as both men were identified as of the Uí Enechglaiss and Uí Fiachrach dynasties, not of tribes. By 700, "moccu" had been entirely replaced by "mac" and "hua" (later "Mac" and "Ó").


title: Connacht

text: During the mid-8th century, what is now County Clare was absorbed into Thomond by the Déisi Tuisceart. It has remained a part of the province of Munster ever since.


title: Connacht

text: The name Connacht arose from the most successful of these early dynasties, The Connachta. By 1050, they had extended their rule from Rathcroghan in north County Roscommon to large areas of what are now County Galway, County Mayo, County Sligo, and County Leitrim. The dynastic term was from then on applied to the overall geographic area containing those counties, and has remained so ever since.


title: Connacht

text: The most successful sept of the Connachta were the Ó Conchobair of Síol Muireadaigh. They derived their surname from Conchobar mac Taidg Mór (c. 800 – 882), from whom all subsequent Ó Conchobair Kings of Connacht descended.


title: Connacht

text: Conchobar was a nominal vassal of Máel Sechnaill mac Máele Ruanaid, High King of Ireland (died 862). He married Máel Sechnaill's daughter, Ailbe, and had sons Áed mac Conchobair (died 888), Tadg mac Conchobair (died 900) and Cathal mac Conchobair (died 925), all of whom subsequently reigned. Conchobar and his sons' descendants expanded the power of the Síol Muiredhaigh south into Uí Maine, west into Iar Connacht, and north into Uí Fiachrach Muaidhe and Bréifne.


title: Connacht

text: By the reign of Áed in Gai Bernaig (1046–1067), Connacht's kings ruled much what is now the province. Yet the Ó Conchobair's contended for control with their cousins, the Ua Ruairc of Uí Briúin Bréifne. Four Ua Ruairc's achieved rule of the kingdom – Fergal Ua Ruairc (956–967), Art Uallach Ua Ruairc (1030–1046), Áed Ua Ruairc (1067–1087), and Domnall Ua Ruairc (1098–1102). In addition, the usurper Flaithbertaigh Ua Flaithbertaigh gained the kingship in 1092 by the expedient of blinding King Ruaidrí na Saide Buide. After 1102 the Ua Ruairc's and Ua Flaithbertaigh's were suborned and confined to their own kingdoms of Bréifne and Iar Connacht. From then until the death of the last king in 1474, the kingship was held exclusively by the Ó Conchobair's.


title: Connacht

text: The single most substantial sub-kingdom in Connacht was Uí Maine, which at it maximum extant enclosed central and south County Roscommon, central, east-central and south County Galway, along with the territory of Lusmagh in Munster. Their rulers bore the family name Ó Ceallaigh; its spelling sometimes varying slightly from scribe to scribe.


title: Connacht

text: Though the Ó Ceallaigh's were never elevated to the provincial kingship, Uí Maine existed as a semi-independent kingdom both before and after the demise of the Connacht kingship.


title: Connacht

text: Under kings Tairrdelbach Ua Conchobair (1088–1156) and his son Ruaidrí Ua Conchobair (c. 1120 – 1198) Connacht became one of the five dominant kingdoms on the island. Tairrdelbach and Ruaidrí became the first men from west of the Shannon to gain the title "Ard-Rí na hÉireann" (High King of Ireland). In the latter's case, he was recognised all over the island in 1166 as "Rí Éireann", or King of Ireland.


title: Connacht

text: Tairrdelbach was highly innovative, building the first stone castles in Ireland, and more controversially, introducing the policy of primogeniture to a hostile Gaelic polity. Castles were built in the 1120s at Galway (where he based his fleet), Dunmore, Sligo and Ballinasloe, where he dug a new six-mile canal to divert the river Suck around the castle of Dun Ló. Churches, monasteries and dioceses were re-founded or created, works such as the Corpus Missal, the High Cross of Tuam and the Cross of Cong were sponsored by him.


title: Connacht

text: Tairrdelbach annexed the Kingdom of Mide; its rulers, the Clann Cholmáin, became his vassals. This brought two of Ireland's five main kingdoms under the direct control of Connacht. He also asserted control over Dublin, which was even then being recognised as a kind of national capital.


title: Connacht

text: His son, Ruaidrí, became king of Connacht ""without any opposition"" in 1156. One of his first acts as king was arresting three of his twenty-two brothers, ""Brian Breifneach, Brian Luighneach, and Muircheartach Muimhneach"" to prevent them from usurping him. He blinded Brian Breifneach as an extra precaution.


title: Connacht

text: Ruaidrí was compelled to recognise Muirchertach Mac Lochlainn as Ard-Rí, though he went to war with him in 1159. Mac Lochlainn's murder in 1166 left Ruaidrí the unopposed ruler of all Ireland. He was crowned in 1166 at Dublin, ""took the kingship of Ireland ...[and was] inaugurated king as honourably as any king of the Gaeidhil was ever inaugurated;"" He was the first and last native ruler who was recognised by the Gaelic-Irish as full King of Ireland.


title: Connacht

text: However, his expulsion of Dermot MacMurrough later that year brought about the Norman invasion of Ireland in 1169. Ruaidrí's inept response to events led to rebellion by his sons in 1177, and his deposition by Conchobar Maenmaige Ua Conchobair in 1183. Ruaidrí died at Cong in 1198, noted as the annals as late ""King of Connacht and of All Ireland, both the Irish and the English.""


title: Connacht

text: Connacht was first raided by the Anglo-Normans in 1177 but not until 1237 did encastellation begin under Richard Mor de Burgh (c. 1194 – 1242). New towns were founded (Athenry, Headford, Castlebar) or former settlements expanded (Sligo, Roscommon, Loughrea, Ballymote). Both "Gael and Gall" acknowledged the supreme lordship of the Earl of Ulster; after the murder of the last earl in 1333, the Anglo-Irish split into different factions, the most powerful emerging as Bourke of Mac William Eighter in north Connacht, and Burke of Clanricarde in the south. They were regularly in and out of alliance with equally powerful Gaelic lords and kings such as Ó Conchobair of Síol Muireadaigh, Ó Cellaigh of Uí Maine and Mac Diarmata of Moylurg, in addition to extraprovincial powers such as Ó Briain of Thomond, FitzGerald of Kildare, Ó Domhnaill of Tír Chonaill.


title: Connacht

text: Lesser lords of both ethnicities included Mac Donnchadha, Mac Goisdelbh, Mac Bhaldrin, Mac Siurtain, Ó hEaghra, Ó Flaithbeheraigh, Ó Dubhda, Ó Seachnasaigh, Ó Manacháin, Seoighe, Ó Máille, Ó Ruairc, Ó Madadháin, Bairéad, Ó Máel Ruanaid, Ó hEidhin, Ó Finnaghtaigh, Ó Fallmhain, Breathneach, Mac Airechtaig, Ó Neachtain, Ó hAllmhuráin, Ó Fathaigh.


title: Connacht

text: The town of Galway was the only significant urban area in the province. Its inhabitants governed themselves under charter of the king of England. Its merchant families, The Tribes of Galway, traded not only with the lordships around them and in Ireland, but with England, France, and Spain. Its mayor enjoyed supreme power but only for the length of his office, rarely more than a year. Galway's inhabitants were of mixed descent, its families bearing surnames of Gaelic, French, English, Welsh, Norman and other origins.


title: Connacht

text: Connacht was the site of two of the bloodiest battles in Irish history, the Second Battle of Athenry (1316) and the Battle of Knockdoe (1504). The casualties of both battles were measured in several thousand, unusually high for Irish warfare. A third battle at Aughrim in 1691 resulted in an estimated 10,000 deaths.


title: Connacht

text: All of Connacht's lordships remained in states of full or semi-independence from other Gaelic-Irish and Anglo-Irish rulers until the late 16th century, when the Tudor conquest of Ireland (1534–1603) brought all under the direct rule of King James I of England. The counties were created from c. 1569 onwards.


title: Connacht

text: During the 17th century representatives from Connacht played leading roles in Confederate Ireland and during the Williamite War in Ireland. Its main town, Galway, endured several sieges (see Sieges of Galway), while warfare, plague, famine and sectarian massacres killed about a third of the population by 1655. One of the last battles fought in pre-20th century Ireland occurred in Connacht, the Battle of Aughrim on 12 July 1691.


title: Connacht

text: Connacht was mainly at peace between 1691 and 1798. In 1798 Connacht was a major backdrop to the Irish Rebellion of 1798 when French forces under General Jean Humbert of the French Republic landed in Killala, County Mayo to link up with the United Irishmen. Together, the French and Irish forces defeat a British garrison at the Races of Castlebar before proclaiming the Irish Republic, which later became better known as the "Republic of Connacht" as its area of effective control never extended beyond the province. The Republic, and the Rebellion itself, was effectively crushed at the Battle of Ballinamuck.


title: Connacht

text: A population explosion in the early 18th century was curbed by the Irish Famine, which led to many deaths and some emigration. Its memory has been overshadowed by the Great Famine (Ireland) one hundred years later.


title: Connacht

text: Connacht was the worst hit area in Ireland during the Great Famine, in particular, counties Mayo and Roscommon. In the Census of 1841, the population of Connacht stood at 1,418,859, the highest ever recorded. By 1851, the population had fallen to 1,010,031 and would continue to decline until the late 20th century.


title: Connacht

text: At the time of the Rebellion of 1798 a force of 1,000 French soldiers under General Jean Joseph Amable Humbert landed at Killala in County Mayo. General Humbert proclaimed the Irish Republic in his declaration to the people upon landing in Ireland on 22 August 1798:


title: Connacht

text: After the nascent Republic's victory at the Battle of Castlebar which took place on 27 August 1798, General Humbert, on 31 August 1798, issued the following decree, which "inter alia" appointed John Moore as the President of the Government of the Province of Connacht:


title: Connacht

text: The rebel republic was a client state of the French Republic and was very short lived. Nevertheless, among the things which President Moore did have time to do was to issue ""paper money to a considerable extent...[i]n the name of the French Government"". Despite their general anti-clericalism and hosility to the Bourbon monarchy, the French Directory suggested to the United Irishmen in 1798 restoring the Jacobite Pretender, Henry Benedict Stuart, as Henry IX, King of the Irish. This was on account of General Humbert landing a force in County Mayo for the Irish Rebellion of 1798 and realising the local population were devoutly Catholic (a significant number of Irish priests supported the Rising and had met with Humbert, although Humbert's Army had been veterans of the anti-clerical campaign in Italy). The French Directory hoped this option would allow the creation of a stable French client state in Ireland. However, Wolfe Tone, the Protestant republican leader, scoffed at the suggestion and it was quashed, with an Irish Republic proclaimed.


title: Connacht

text: On 8 September 1798, just weeks after its proclamation, the republic collapsed after the Battle of Ballinamuck. Moore was captured by a detachment of government troops led by Lieutenant Colonel Crawford in Castlebar, dyring in custody the following year. Humbert and his men were transported by canal to Dublin and exchanged for British prisoners of war. Government forces subsequently slowly spread out into the republic, engaging in numerous skirmishes with rebel holdouts. These sweeps reached their climax in 23 September when Killala was captured by government forces. During these sweeps, suspected rebels were frequently summarily executed while many houses thought to be housing rebels were burnt. Numerous rebels took to the countryside and continued guerrilla operations, which took government forces some months to suppress.


title: Connacht

text: Connacht–Ulster was one of Ireland's four regional constituencies for elections to the European Parliament until it was superseded in 2004 by the constituency of North-West.


title: Connacht

text: The Irish language is spoken in the Gaeltacht areas of Counties Mayo and Galway, the largest area being in the west of County Galway. The Galway Gaeltacht is the largest Irish-speaking region in Ireland, taking in Cois Fharraige, parts of Connemara, Conamara Theas, the Aran Islands, Dúithche Sheoigeach (Joyce Country) and the Galway City Gaeltacht. Irish-speaking areas in County Mayo can be found in Iorras, Acaill and Tourmakeady.


title: Connacht

text: According to the 2016 census, Irish is spoken outside of the education system on a daily basis by 9,455 people in the Galway County Gaeltacht areas.


title: Connacht

text: There are 202,667 Irish speakers in the province, over 84,000 in Galway and more than 55,000 in Mayo. There is also the 4,265 attending the 18 Gaelscoileanna (Irish language primary schools) and three Gaelcholáiste (Irish language secondary schools) outside the Gaeltacht across the province. Between 7% and 10% of the province are either native Irish speakers from the Gaeltacht, in Irish medium education or native Irish speakers who no longer live in Gaeltacht areas but still live in the province.


title: Connacht

text: Gaelic football and hurling dominate sport in Connacht with 212 Gaelic Athletic Association affiliated clubs in the province.


title: Connacht

text: Gaelic football is played throughout the province with the five counties annually competing in the Connacht Senior Football Championship to determine the provincial champion. Galway are the most successful side in Connacht with 48 Connacht titles and 9 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship. Mayo have been the dominant force in the province in recent years winning a five-in-a-row of Connacht titles from 2011 to 2015, and have regularly reached the semi-finals and finals of the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship. No football team from Connacht has won the All-Ireland since Galway in 2001.


title: Connacht

text: Hurling in Connacht mostly played in County Galway. Galway is the only team in the province to compete in the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship winning the Liam MacCarthy Cup five times. The Galway hurling team compete in the Leinster Senior Hurling Championship due to the lack of competition in the province.


title: Connacht

text: Connacht is represented by Connacht Rugby in the Pro14 and the Rugby Champions Cup. Connacht home games are played in the Galway Sportsgrounds in Galway. During the 2015/2016 Season of the Pro12, Connacht, for the first time, reached the play off stages of the competition and won the final in Edinburgh against rivals Leinster. It was their first ever Pro12 title.


title: Connacht

text: Connacht-based teams who have played in the All-Ireland League include Buccaneers RFC, Galway Corinthians RFC, Galwegians RFC, Ballina RFC and Sligo RFC.


title: Connacht

text: Some other sports are overseen by provincial bodies, including in association football, where the Connacht Football Association is the governing body for a number of Connacht league and cup competitions. Traditionally there have been two main senior men's teams from the province that compete on a national level, Galway United F.C. and Sligo Rovers F.C. Both clubs have won various domestic honours. Cricket is a minor, but growing, sport within the province. The Connacht Cricket Union, founded in 2010, is the governing body for cricket in the province. There are cricket clubs based in Ballaghaderreen, Ballyhaunis, Galway, and Sligo. Connacht does not currently enter a team into the provincial competitions.


title: Bride and Prejudice

text: Bride and Prejudice (also known as Bride and Prejudice: The Bollywood Musical) is a 2004 romantic drama film directed by Gurinder Chadha, director of "Bend it Like Beckham" (2002) and other films. The screenplay by Chadha and Paul Mayeda Berges is a Bollywood-style adaptation of Jane Austen's 1813 novel "Pride and Prejudice". It was filmed primarily in English, with some Hindi and Punjabi dialogue. The film was released in the United Kingdom on 6 October 2004 and in the United States on 11 February 2005. It has received mostly positive reviews from critics.


title: Bride and Prejudice

text: Lalita Bakshi is a young woman living in Amritsar, India with her family. The family is invited to a friend's wedding ceremony, where Lalita meets Will Darcy, a handsome and wealthy American who is a long-time friend of the Indian-British barrister Balraj, and Balraj's sister Kiran. Balraj is instantly attracted to Jaya and likewise, Darcy is attracted to Lalita. During the wedding reception, Lalita takes a disliking to Darcy but when Balraj invites Jaya to Goa, Mr. Bakshi asks Lalita to go with them and she eventually agrees to do so. In Goa, Lalita and Darcy clash over their ideas on men and women and India's economic future. Later that night on the beach, Lalita meets Johnny Wickham, Darcy's former friend from London, and he validates her low opinion of Darcy.


title: Bride and Prejudice

text: The Bakshi family is visited by Kohli Saab, a family friend living in Los Angeles, who has come to India to find a "traditional woman" to marry. When Kohli Saab is attracted to Jaya, Mrs. Bakshi steers him towards Lalita, making Lalita uncomfortable. Wickham is invited to join the family and Kohli Saab at the Garba, despite Mrs. Bakshi's disapproval. Lalita happily accepts a dance from Wickham, even as Darcy and Kiran warn her against becoming involved with him. Lalita angers her mother by turning down a proposal from Kohli.


title: Bride and Prejudice

text: Balraj comes to the house to bid farewell to Jaya and promises to write to her from London. Lakhi later announces that Chandra is marrying Kohli Saab, much to the surprise of Jaya and especially Lalita. The same night, Wickham also announces that he is leaving and promises to write to Lalita. Neither Balraj nor Wickham writes to the two older sisters, but Wickham is shown secretly writing to Lakhi. Kohli Saab and Chandra phone to invite the Bakshi family the wedding ceremony in Los Angeles. The family accepts and Jaya is excited to stopover in London hoping to see Balraj again.


title: Bride and Prejudice

text: In London, Kiran informs the Bakshi family that Balraj is in New York to meet potential brides, devastating Jaya, Lalita and Mrs Bakshi. At Heathrow Airport, Lakhi, Jaya, Lalita and Mrs Bakshi coincidentally run into Darcy, who is also a guest at Kohli Saab and Chandra's wedding. On board Darcy offers his First class seat to Mrs. Bakshi so he can sit next to Lalita in Economy class for the remainder of the flight. During their stay in California, Lalita's opinion of Darcy slowly improves, and the two fall in love.


title: Bride and Prejudice

text: At the wedding, Darcy's condescending mother, Catherine, introduces Lalita to Darcy's former girlfriend, Anne who mispronounces Lalita's name as "Lolita". Jaya and Lalita also meet Darcy's younger sister, Georgie, who tells Lalita that Balraj and Darcy are not in contact because Darcy persuaded Balraj not to marry an Indian girl with a "gold-digger" Mother. Lalita furiously realizes that Darcy is the reason why Jaya never heard from Balraj. Darcy proposes to Lalita, who angrily refuses, blaming him for Jaya's unhappiness.


title: Bride and Prejudice

text: Back in London, Lakhi uses the family's layover as an opportunity to sneak away and meet Wickham. Darcy apologizes to Lalita, telling her that he has gotten Balraj to reconcile with Jaya. Lalita realizes that Darcy was right about Wickham and calls for his help to find Lakhi. Darcy explains that Wickham got Georgie pregnant at age 16, tried to marry her for their family's money, and ran away when his plan did not work. They both rescue Lakhi and Lalita accepts Darcy's proposal. The film ends with a double wedding of Jaya to Balraj and Lalita to Darcy.


title: Bride and Prejudice

text: "Bride and Prejudice" received funding from the UK Film Council with the stipulation that a majority of filming had to take place in the UK. Locations used include Halton House, Stoke Park Club, Turville, and Cobstone Windmill in Buckinghamshire, and Southall, Somerset House, Little Venice, the London Eye, and the National Film Theatre in London. Other locations include the Golden Temple of Amritsar, the beaches of Goa, the Grand Canyon, the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, and Santa Monica Beach.


title: Bride and Prejudice

text: Ashanti sings "Touch My Body" and Gayatri Iyer sings "Take me to love" in the film. According to director Gurinder Chadha in "making-of" extras on the DVD release, Ashanti's appearance is an homage to the tradition of a celebrity making a cameo appearance to sing an "item number", a song that has no direct involvement in the plot in Bollywood films.


title: Bride and Prejudice

text: The review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes reported that 64% of critics have given the film a positive review based on 134 reviews, with an average rating of 6.10/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "A colorful and energetic adaptation of Austen's classic." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 55 out of 100 based on 34 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".


title: Bride and Prejudice

text: Peter Bradshaw from "The Guardian" reviewed, ""Bride and Prejudice" could be any unremarkable Bollywood picture". Stella Papamichael at the BBC noted that "swapping corsets for saris, and polite pianoforte for the bhangra beat, director Gurinder Chadha reinvigorates Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice" with fun and flamboyance".


title: Holy of Holies

text: The Holy of Holies (Hebrew: "Qōḏeš haqQŏḏāšīm" or "Kodesh HaKodashim"; also הַדְּבִיר "haDəḇīr", 'the Sanctuary') is a term in the Hebrew Bible that refers to the inner sanctuary of the Tabernacle, where God's presence appeared. According to Hebrew tradition, the area was defined by four pillars that held up the veil of the covering, under which the Ark of the Covenant was held above the floor. According to the Hebrew scripture, the Ark contained the Ten Commandments, which were given by God to Moses on Mount Sinai. The Temple in Jerusalem was said to have been built by King Solomon for keeping the Ark.


title: Holy of Holies

text: Ancient Jewish traditions viewed the Holy of Holies as the spiritual junction of Heaven and Earth, the "axis mundi".


title: Holy of Holies

text: As a part of the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem, the Holy of Holies was situated somewhere on Temple Mount; its precise location in the Mount being a matter of dispute, with some classical Jewish sources identifying its location with the Foundation Stone, which sits under the Dome of the Rock. Other Jewish scholars argue that contemporary reports would place the Temple to the north or to the east of the current Dome of the Rock.


title: Holy of Holies

text: The Christian Crusaders associated the Holy of Holies with the Well of Souls, a small cave that lies underneath the Foundation Stone in the Dome of the Rock.


title: Holy of Holies

text: The construction "Holy of Holies" is a translation of the Hebrew (Tiberian Hebrew: "Qṓḏeš haQŏḏāšîm"), which is intended to express a superlative. Examples of similar constructions are "servant of servants" (Gen 9:25), "Sabbath of sabbaths" (Ex 31:15), "God of gods" (Deut 10:17), "Vanity of vanities" (Eccl 1:2), "Song of songs" (Song of Songs 1:1), "king of kings" (Ezra 7:12), etc. The Bible distinguishes the proper noun "Holy of Holies" from the superlative adjective by the definite article, viz. "Qṓḏeš HaQŏḏāšîm" is the room and "qṓḏeš qāḏāšîm" is used otherwise. This adds an additional level of superlativity; the only matching examples of the prior set are "God of gods" and "Song of songs."


title: Holy of Holies

text: In the Authorized King James Version, "Holy of Holies" is always translated as "Most Holy Place". This is in keeping with the intention of the Hebrew idiom to express the utmost degree of holiness. Thus, the name "Most Holy Place" was used to refer to the "Holy of Holies" in many English documents.


title: Holy of Holies

text: A related term is the "debir" () transliterated in the Septuagint (the Greek translation as "dabir" (), which either means the back (i.e. western) part of the Sanctuary, or derives from the verb stem D-B-R, "to speak", justifying the translation in the Latin Vulgate as "oraculum", from which the traditional English translation "oracle" (KJV, 1611) derives.


title: Holy of Holies

text: According to the Hebrew Bible, in order that God may dwell among the Israelites, God gave Moses instructions for erecting a sanctuary. The directions provide for:


title: Holy of Holies

text: According to the Bible, the Holy of Holies was covered by a veil, and no one was allowed to enter except the High Priest, and even he would only enter once a year on Yom Kippur, to offer the blood of sacrifice and incense. The Bible reports that in the wilderness, on the day that the tabernacle was first raised up, the cloud of the Lord covered the tabernacle (). There are other times that this was recorded, and instructions were given that the Lord would appear in the cloud upon the mercy seat ("kapporet"), and at that time the priests should not enter into the tabernacle (Leviticus 16:2). According to the Hebrew Bible, the Holy of Holies contained the Ark of the Covenant with representation of Cherubim.


title: Holy of Holies

text: Upon completion of the dedication of the Tabernacle, the Voice of God spoke to Moses "from between the Cherubim" ().


title: Holy of Holies

text: The Holy of Holies was the inner sanctuary within the Tabernacle and Temple in Jerusalem when Solomon's Temple and the Second Temple were standing. A brocade curtain (Hebrew: "parochet"), made with cherubim motifs woven directly into the fabric from the loom, divided the Holy of Holies from the lesser Holy place. The Holy of Holies was located in the westernmost end of the Temple building, being a perfect cube: 20 cubits by 20 cubits by 20 cubits. The inside was in total darkness and contained the Ark of the Covenant, gilded inside and out, in which was placed the Tablets of the Covenant. According to both Jewish and Christian tradition, Aaron's rod and a pot of manna were also in the ark. The Ark was covered with a lid made of pure gold, known as the "mercy seat",() which was covered by the beaten gold cherubim wings, creating the space for the Divine Presence ().


title: Holy of Holies

text: When the Temple was rebuilt after the Babylonian captivity, the Ark was no longer present in the Holy of Holies; instead, a portion of the floor was raised slightly to indicate the place where it had stood. In Jewish tradition, two curtains separated the Holy of Holies from the lesser Holy place during the period of the Second Temple. These curtains were woven with motifs directly from the loom, rather than embroidered, and each curtain had the thickness of a handbreadth (ca. 9 cm.). Josephus records that Pompey profaned the Temple by insisting on entering the Holy of Holies in 63 BCE. When Titus captured the city during the First Jewish–Roman War, Roman soldiers took down the curtain and used it to wrap therein golden vessels retrieved from the Temple.


title: Holy of Holies

text: The Holy of Holies was entered once a year by the High Priest on the Day of Atonement, to sprinkle the blood of sacrificial animals (a bull offered as atonement for the Priest and his household, and a goat offered as atonement for the people) and offer incense upon the Ark of the Covenant and the mercy seat that sat on top of the ark in the First Temple (the Second Temple had no ark and the blood was sprinkled where the Ark would have been and the incense was put on the Brazen Altar of incense). The animal was sacrificed and the blood was carried into the most holy place. The gold was also found in the Most Holy Place.


title: Holy of Holies

text: The Magdala stone is thought to be a representation of the Holy of Holies carved before the destruction of the Temple in the year 70.


title: Holy of Holies

text: Traditional Judaism regards the location where the inner sanctuary was originally located, on the Temple Mount (Mount Moriah), as retaining some or all of its original sanctity for use in a future Third Temple. The exact location of the Holy of Holies is a subject of dispute.


title: Holy of Holies

text: Traditional Judaism regards the Holy of Holies as the place where the presence of God dwells. The Talmud gives detailed descriptions of Temple architecture and layout. According to the Babylonian Talmud Tractate Yoma, the "Kodesh Hakodashim" (Holy of Holies) is located in the center of the esplanade from a North-South perspective, but significantly to the West from an East–West perspective, with all the major courtyards and functional areas lying to its east.


title: Holy of Holies

text: The Talmud supplies additional details, and describes the ritual performed by the High Priest. During the ritual, the High Priest would pronounce the Tetragrammaton, the only point according to traditional Judaism that it was pronounced out loud. According to Jewish tradition, the people prostrated themselves fully on the ground when it was said. According to the Talmud, the High Priest's face upon exit from the Holy of Holies was radiant.


title: Holy of Holies

text: While under normal circumstances, access to the Holy of Holies was restricted to the High Priest and only on Yom Kippur, the Talmud suggests that repair crews were allowed inside as needed but were lowered from the upper portion of the room via enclosures so that they only saw the area they were to work on.


title: Holy of Holies

text: Judaism regards the Torah ark, a place in a synagogue where the Torah scrolls are kept, as a miniature Holy of Holies.


title: Holy of Holies

text: The exact location of the Holy of Holies is a contentious issue, as elements of questioning the exact placement of the Temple are often associated with Temple denial. There are three main theories as to where exactly the Temple stood on the Mount: where the Dome of the Rock is now located; to the north of the Dome of the Rock (Professor Asher Kaufman); or to the east of the Dome of the Rock (Professor Joseph Patrich of the Hebrew University).


title: Holy of Holies

text: The location of the Holy of Holies is, naturally, connected to the location of the Jewish Temple. The location of the Temple, however, had become uncertain already less than 150 years after the Second Temple's destruction, as detailed in the Talmud. Chapter 54 of the Tractate Berakhot states that the Holy of Holies was directly aligned with the Golden Gate, which would have placed the Holy of Holies slightly to the north of the Dome of the Rock, as Kaufman postulated. Chapter 54 of the Tractate Yoma and chapter 26 of the Tractate Sanhedrin, on the other hand, assert that the Holy of Holies stood directly on the Foundation Stone.


title: Holy of Holies

text: The Crusaders associated the Holy of Holies with the Well of Souls, which is located under the Foundation Stone of the Dome of the Rock. Most Orthodox Jews today completely avoid climbing up to Temple Mount, to prevent them from accidentally stepping on any holy areas. A few Orthodox Jewish authorities, following the opinion of the medieval scholar Maimonides, permit Jews to visit parts of the Temple Mount known not to be anywhere near any of the sanctified areas. Orthodox Jewish visitors to the Temple Mount, who come especially from those groups associated with the Temple Institute and its efforts to rebuild a Temple, seek to conform to the minimal requirements for coming near the Temple, such as immersing in a mikvah ("collection of water"; a ritual of purification), not coming during or following menstruation or immediately following a seminal emission, not showing their back towards its presumed location, etc.


title: Holy of Holies

text: To avoid religious conflict, Jewish visitors caught praying or bringing ritual objects are usually expelled from the area by police.


title: Holy of Holies

text: According to the ancient apocryphal "Lives of the Prophets", after the death of Zechariah ben Jehoiada, the priests of the Temple could no more, as before, see the apparitions of the angels of the Lord, nor could make divinations with the Ephod, nor give responses from the "Debir".


title: Holy of Holies

text: The Greek New Testament retains the pre-Christian Septuagint phrase "Holy of the Holies" "hágion "(sg n)" tōn hagíōn" () without the definite article as "Holies of Holies" "hágia "(pl n)" hagíōn" () in Hebrews 9:3. In the Vulgate of Saint Jerome, these are rendered as "sanctum sanctorum" and "sancta sanctorum", respectively. The Greek language was the common language upon Hellenization of much of the Middle East after the death of Alexander the Great, and the division of his empire among four generals. The Jews of the Diaspora spoke it; the Vulgate was a faithful translation for Christian Rome.


title: Holy of Holies

text: Certain branches of Christianity, including the Eastern Orthodox Church, and the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church continue to have a tradition of a Holy of Holies that they regard as a most sacred site. The ciborium, a permanent canopy over the altar in some churches, once surrounded by curtains at points in the liturgy, symbolizes the Holy of Holies. Some Christian churches, particularly the Catholic Church, consider the Church tabernacle, or its location (often at the rear of the sanctuary), as the symbolic equivalent of the Holy of Holies, due to the storage of consecrated hosts in that vessel.


title: Holy of Holies

text: The Greek phrase refers to the Tabernacle or Temple. The name in Greek for the sanctuary of a church is ("Hieron Vema", see Bema#Christianity), in Russian it is called Святой Алтарь ("Svyatoy Altar" – literally: "Holy Altar"), and in Romanian it is called "Sfântul Altar".


title: Holy of Holies

text: A cognate term in Ge'ez is found in the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church: "Qidduse Qiddusan", referring to the innermost sanctuary of an Orthodox Christian church, where the Tabot is kept and only clergy may enter. This is also called the "Bete Mekdes”. Every Ethiopian Orthodox church has one, and it is covered with a Curtain. There are often three entry points, symbolising the Holy Trinity. In the middle, there is always an altar where the church's Tabot is kept. There can be as many altars as the number of Tabots."


title: Holy of Holies

text: The Saint Thomas Christians (also known as Nasrani or Syrian Christians) from Kerala, South India still follow much Jewish Christian tradition. In Nasrani tradition the Holy of Holies is kept veiled for much of the time. The red veil covers the inner altar or the main altar. It is unveiled only during the central part of the main Nasrani ritual. The main ritual of the Saint Thomas Christians is the Qurbana.


title: Holy of Holies

text: The Latin Vulgate Bible translates "Qṓḏeš HaqQŏḏāšîm" as Sanctum sanctorum (Ex 26:34). Reproducing in Latin the Hebrew construction, the expression is used as a superlative of the neuter adjective "sanctum", to mean "a thing most holy". It is used by Roman Catholics to refer to holy objects beyond the Holy of Holies, and is specifically often used as an alternative name for a tabernacle, due to the object being a storage chamber for consecrated host and thus where the presence of God is most represented.


title: Holy of Holies

text: The Vulgate also refers to the Holy of Holies with the plural form "Sancta sanctorum" (2 Chr 5:7), arguably a synecdoche referring to the holy objects hosted there. This form is also used more broadly in Catholic tradition with reference to sanctuaries other than the Temple in Jerusalem. A notable example is for the Chiesa di San Lorenzo in Palatio ad Sancta Sanctorum, a chapel in the complex of St John Lateran in Rome.


title: Holy of Holies

text: The Salt Lake Temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) contains a Holy of Holies wherein the church's president—acting as the Presiding High Priest—enters to fulfill the relationship between the High Priest of Israel and God in accordance with the LDS Church's interpretation of the Book of Exodus () and Latter-day Saint religious texts.


title: Holy of Holies

text: Seventh-Day Adventism (SDA) believes that the Holy of Holies on Earth was a copy of the true tabernacle in heaven, and this view can also be seen in other Christian denominations. Because in Hebrews, God commands Moses to make sure that all things according to the pattern shewed to thee in the Mount Sinai (Heb 8:2,5). After the "Great Disappointment", preacher O. R. L. Crosier, Hiram Edson, and F. B. Hahn published new insights into Christ's sanctuary ministry that Jesus began to minister in the heavenly sanctuary after His ascension (Heb 9:24). Seventh-Day Adventism (SDA) believes that just as the high priest completed the special ministry on Yom Kippur and blessed the Israelites. Christ will come and bless his people after cleaning the Holy of Holies in heaven (Heb 9:23).


title: Wire transfer

text: Wire transfer, bank transfer, or credit transfer, is a method of electronic funds transfer from one person or entity to another. A wire transfer can be made from one bank account to another bank account, or through a transfer of cash at a cash office.


title: Wire transfer

text: Different wire transfer systems and operators provide a variety of options relative to the immediacy and finality of settlement and the cost, value, and volume of transactions. Central bank wire transfer systems, such as the Federal Reserves Fedwire system in the United States, are more likely to be real-time gross settlement (RTGS) systems, as they provide the quickest availability of funds. This is because they post the gross (complete) entry against electronic accounts of the wire transfer system operator. Other systems, such as the Clearing House Interbank Payments System (CHIPS), provide net settlement on a periodic basis. More immediate settlement systems tend to process higher monetary value time-critical transactions, have higher transaction costs, and have a smaller volume of payments. A faster settlement process allows less time for currency fluctuations while money is in transit.


title: Wire transfer

text: The first widely used service for wire transfers was launched by Western Union in 1872 on its existing telegraph network. Once a sender had paid money to one telegraph office, the operator could transmit a message and "wire" the money to another office, using passwords and code books to authorize the release of the funds to a recipient at that location. By 1877 the service was used to transfer almost $2.5 million each year. Because the earliest wire transfers were using telegraph networks, it was termed telegraphic transfer and this name is still used in some countries.


title: Wire transfer

text: Banks collect payment for the service from the sender as well as from the recipient. The sending bank typically collects a fee separate from the funds being transferred, while the receiving bank and intermediary banks through which the transfer travels deduct fees from the money being transferred so that the recipient receives less than what the sender sent.


title: Wire transfer

text: Since 2009 the European Union Regulation No 924/2009 controls cross-border payments in the European Union. In the new regulation Article 1 (q.v., Ref.4) states that an IBAN/BIC transfer within Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) must not cost more than a national transfer, no matter which currency is used. The receiving bank can charge for exchanging to local currency.


title: Wire transfer

text: Prior to this, in 2002 the European Union relegated the regulation of fees a bank may charge for payments in euro between EU member states down to the domestic level, resulting in very low or no fees for electronic transfers within the Eurozone. In 2005, Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway joined the EU regulation on electronic transfers. However, this regulation was superseded by the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA), consisting of 32 European countries.


title: Wire transfer

text: In the United States, domestic wire transfers are governed by Federal Regulation J and by Article 4A of the Uniform Commercial Code.


title: Wire transfer

text: US wire transfers can be costly. In 2016, among the 15 largest retail banks, the average fee for an outgoing domestic wire was $25. Incoming domestic wire fees were about evenly split between $0 (free) and $15.


title: Wire transfer

text: In Australia, money transfers are primarily regulated by ASIC, there is sometimes further regulation by AUSTRAC in industries where money laundering or terrorism financing are a risk; such as money remittance services. Domestic transfers in Australia are generally free to consumers. International transfers can be costly, and banks will often charge a fee between $0 (free) and $20, and an FX margin (the difference between the interbank rate, and the rate that you are charged). Cheaper alternatives to the banks are available from foreign exchange brokers, who usually charge a lower fee and/or margin.


title: Wire transfer

text: With bank-to-bank wire transfer, each account holder must have a proven identity. Chargebacks are unlikely, although wires can be recalled. Information contained in wires is transmitted securely through encrypted communications methods. The price of bank wire transfers varies greatly, depending on the bank and its location; in some countries, the fee associated with the service can be costly.


title: Wire transfer

text: Wire transfers done through cash offices are essentially anonymous and are designed for transfer between persons who trust each other. It is unsafe to send money by wire to an unknown person to collect at a cash office; the receiver of the money may, after collecting it, not provide whatever goods or services they promised in return for the payment, but instead simply disappear. This scam has been used often, especially in the so-called "419 scams" which often nominate Western Union for collection.


title: Wire transfer

text: International transfers involving the United States are subject to monitoring by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), which monitors information provided in the text of the wire and then decides whether, according to the US Government's federal regulations and political positions, money is being transferred to terrorist groups, or countries or entities under sanction by the United States government. If a financial institution suspects that funds are being sent from or to one of these entities, it must block the transfer and freeze the funds.


title: Wire transfer

text: SWIFT or IBAN wire transfers are not completely free of vulnerabilities. Every intermediary bank that handles a wire transaction can take a fee directly out of the wire payload (the assets being transferred) without the account holder's knowledge or consent. In many places, there is no legislation or technical means to protect customers from this practice. If bank S is the sending bank (or brokerage), and bank R is the receiving bank (or brokerage), and banks I1, I2 and I3 are intermediary banks, the client may only have a contract with bank S and/or R, but banks I1, I2 and I3 can (and often do) take money from the wire without any direct arrangement with the client. Clients are sometimes taken by surprise when less money arrives at bank R. Contrast this with cheques, where the amount transferred is guaranteed in full, and fees (if there are any) can be charged only at endpoint banks.


title: Wire transfer

text: The European Union offers some partial protection from this practice by prohibiting European intermediary banks from taking a fee out of the amount being transferred, even for transatlantic transfers. However, it's still common practice for a European brokerage firm to state that they charge no transfer fee, and then contact their bank to take an unpublished fee from the amount transferred as a means to compensate their bank with their clients' assets.


title: Wire transfer

text: One of the largest companies that offer wire transfer is Western Union, which allows individuals to transfer or receive money without an account with Western Union or any financial institution. Concern and controversy about Western Union transfers have increased in recent years, because of the increased monitoring of money-laundering transactions, as well as concern about terrorist groups using the service, particularly in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks. Although Western Union keeps information about senders and receivers, some transactions can be done essentially anonymously, for the receiver is not always required to show identification.


title: Wire transfer

text: Another option for consumers and businesses transferring money internationally is to use specialised brokerage houses for their international money transfer needs. Many of these specialised brokerage houses can transfer money at better exchange rates compared to banks, thus saving up to 4%. These providers can offer a range of currency exchange products like Spot Contracts, Forward Contracts and Limit Orders. However, not all such providers are regulated by appropriate government bodies. For example, in the UK, even though such companies are regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, not all of them fall under (FCA) scrutiny. Regulators include the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), the Financial Transactions Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC) in Canada, the Hong Kong Customs and Excise Department in Hong Kong and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the UK.


title: Wire transfer

text: Most international transfers are executed through SWIFT, a co-operative society founded in 1974 by seven international banks, which operate a global network to facilitate the transfer of financial messages. Using these messages, banks can exchange data for the transfer of funds between financial institutions. SWIFT's headquarters are in La Hulpe, on the outskirts of Brussels, Belgium.


title: Wire transfer

text: SWIFT also acts as a United Nations–sanctioned international standards body for the creation and maintenance of financial-messaging standards. See SWIFT Standards.


title: Wire transfer

text: Each financial institution is assigned an ISO 9362 code, also called a "Bank Identifier Code" ("BIC") or "SWIFT Code".


title: Wire transfer

text: These codes are generally eight characters long. For example: Deutsche Bank is an international bank with its head office in Frankfurt, Germany, the SWIFT Code for which is "DEUTDEFF":


title: Wire transfer

text: Using an extended code of 11 digits (if the receiving bank has assigned extended codes to branches or to processing areas) allows the payment to be directed to a specific office. For example: DEUTDEFF500 would direct the payment to an office of Deutsche Bank in Bad Homburg. SWIFT deviates slightly from the standard, though, by using position nine for a Logical Terminal ID, making its extended codes 12 digits long.


title: Wire transfer

text: European banks making transfers within the European Union and within Switzerland also use the International Bank Account Number, or IBAN.


title: Wire transfer

text: International prepaid cards are an alternative way for transferring funds. Companies can provide a debit card for worldwide employees' payments. The recipients don’t need to have a bank account and can use the card in places that a debit card is accepted at point-of-sale or online and may withdraw funds in local currency at an ATM.


title: Wire transfer

text: Banks in the United States use SWIFT to send messages to notify banks in other countries that a payment has been made. Banks use the CHIPS or Fedwire system to actually effect the payment.


title: Wire transfer

text: Domestic bank-to-bank transfers are conducted through the Fedwire system, which uses the Federal Reserve System and its assignment of ABA routing transit number, which uniquely identify each bank.


title: Wire transfer

text: Other forms of electronic transfers include, for example, electronic funds transfer system (EFTS). This is the system used to transfer money from a bank account to another party. It is also the system used in some payments made via a bank's online bill payment service. These transfers are made using a bank routing number and the account number at that institution. EFTS transfers differ from wire transfers in important legal ways. An EFTS payment is essentially an electronic personal check, whereas a wire transfer is more like an electronic cashier's check.


title: Wire transfer

text: EFTS transfers are often called "ACH transfers", because they take place through Automated Clearing Houses.


title: Wire transfer

text: One important way ACH transfers differ from wire transfer is that the recipient can initiate it. There are of course restrictions, but this is the way people often set up automatic bill payment with utility companies, for example.


title: R-value (insulation)

text: In the context of construction, the R-value is a measure of how well a two-dimensional barrier, such as a layer of insulation, a window or a complete wall or ceiling, resists the conductive flow of heat. R-value is the temperature difference per unit of heat flux needed to sustain one unit of heat flux between the warmer surface and colder surface of a barrier under steady-state conditions.


title: R-value (insulation)

text: The "R-value" is the building industry term for thermal resistance "per unit area." It is sometimes denoted RSI-value if the SI units are used. An R-value can be given for a material (e.g. for polyethylene foam), or for an assembly of materials (e.g. a wall or a window). In the case of materials, it is often expressed in terms of R-value per metre. R-values are additive for layers of materials, and the higher the R-value the better the performance.


title: R-value (insulation)

text: The U-factor or U-value is the overall heat transfer coefficient and can be found by taking the inverse of the R-value. It is a property that describes how well building elements conduct heat per unit area across a temperature gradient. The elements are commonly assemblies of many layers of materials, such as those that make up the building envelope. It is expressed in watts per square metre kelvin: W/(m⋅K). The higher the U-value, the lower the ability of the building envelope to resist heat transfer. A low U-value, or conversely a high R-Value usually indicates high levels of insulation. They are useful as it is a way of predicting the composite behaviour of an entire building element rather than relying on the properties of individual materials.


title: R-value (insulation)

text: The R-value per unit of a barrier's exposed surface area measures the absolute thermal resistance of the barrier.


title: R-value (insulation)

text: Absolute thermal resistance, formula_8, quantifies the temperature difference per unit of heat flow rate needed to sustain one unit of heat flow rate. Confusion sometimes arises because some publications use the term "thermal resistance" for the temperature difference per unit of heat flux, but other publications use the term "thermal resistance" for the temperature difference per unit of heat flow rate. Further confusion arises because some publications use the character "R" to denote the temperature difference per unit of heat flux, but other publications use the character "R" to denote the temperature difference per unit of heat flow rate. This article uses the term "absolute thermal resistance" for the temperature difference per unit of heat flow rate and uses the term "R-value" for the temperature difference per unit of heat flux.


title: R-value (insulation)

text: In any event, the greater the R-value, the greater the resistance, and so the better the thermal insulating properties of the barrier. R-values are used in describing the effectiveness of insulating material and in analysis of heat flow across assemblies (such as walls, roofs, and windows) under steady-state conditions. Heat flow through a barrier is driven by temperature difference between two sides of the barrier, and the R-value quantifies how effectively the object resists this drive: The temperature difference divided by the R-value and then multiplied by the exposed surface area of the barrier gives the "total rate of heat flow through the barrier," as measured in watts or in BTUs per hour.


title: R-value (insulation)

text: As long as the materials involved are dense solids in direct mutual contact, R-values are additive; for example, the total R-value of a barrier composed of several layers of material is the sum of the R-values of the individual


title: R-value (insulation)

text: For example, in winter it might be 2 °C outside and 20 °C inside, making a temperature difference of 18 °C or 18 K. If the material has an R-value of 4, it will lose 0.25 W/(°C⋅m). With an area of 100 m, the heat energy being lost is 0.25 W/(K⋅m) × 18 °C × 100 m = 450 W. There will be other losses through the floor, windows, ventilation slots, etc. But for that material alone, 450 W is going out, and can be replaced with a 450 W heater inside, to maintain the inside temperature.


title: R-value (insulation)

text: Note that the R-value is the building industry term for what is in other contexts called "thermal resistance" "for a unit It is sometimes denoted RSI-value if the SI (metric) units are used.


title: R-value (insulation)

text: An R-value can be given for a material (e.g. for polyethylene foam), or for an assembly of materials (e.g. a wall or a window). In the case of materials, it is often expressed in terms of R-value per unit length (e.g. per inch of thickness). The latter can be misleading in the case of low-density building thermal insulations, for which R-values are not additive: their R-value per inch is not constant as the material gets thicker, but rather usually decreases.


title: R-value (insulation)

text: The units of an R-value (see ) are usually not explicitly stated, and so it is important to decide from context which units are being used: an R-value expressed in I-P (inch-pound) units is about 5.68 times larger than when expressed in SI units, so that, for example, a window that is R-2 in I-P units has an RSI of 0.35 (since 2/5.68 = 0.35). For R-values there is no difference between US customary units and imperial units. As far as how R-values are reported, all of the following mean the same thing: "this is an R-2 window"; "this is an R2 "this window has an R-value of 2"; "this is a window with R = 2" (and similarly with RSI-values, which also include the possibility "this window provides RSI 0.35 of resistance to heat flow").


title: R-value (insulation)

text: The more a material is intrinsically able to conduct heat, as given by its thermal conductivity, the lower its R-value. On the other hand, the thicker the material, the higher its R-value. Sometimes heat transfer processes "other" than conduction (namely, convection and radiation) significantly contribute to heat transfer within the material. In such cases, it is useful to introduce an "apparent thermal conductivity", which captures the effects of all three kinds of processes, and to define the R-value more generally as the thickness of a sample divided by its apparent thermal conductivity. Some equations relating this generalized R-value, also known as the apparent R-value, to other quantities are:


title: R-value (insulation)

text: However, this generalization comes at a price because R-values that include non-conductive processes may no longer be additive and may have significant temperature dependence. In particular, for a loose or porous material, the R-value per inch generally depends on the thickness, almost always so that it decreases with increasing thickness (polyisocyanurate (colloquially, "polyiso") being an exception; its R-value/inch "increases" with thickness). For similar reasons, the R-value per inch also depends on the temperature of the material, usually increasing with decreasing temperature (polyisocyanurate again being an exception); a nominally R-13 fiberglass batt may be R-14 at and R-12 at . Nevertheless, in construction it is common to treat R-values as independent of temperature. Note that an R-value may not account for radiative or convective processes at the material's "surface", which may be an important factor for some applications.


title: R-value (insulation)

text: The R-value is the reciprocal of the thermal transmittance (U-factor) of a material or assembly. The U.S. construction industry prefers to use R-values, however, because they are additive and because bigger values mean better insulation, neither of which is true for U-factors.


title: R-value (insulation)

text: The "U-factor" or "U-value" is the overall heat transfer coefficient that describes how well a building element conducts heat or the rate of transfer of heat (in watts) through one square metre of a structure divided by the difference in temperature across the structure. The elements are commonly assemblies of many layers of components such as those that make up walls/floors/roofs etc. It is expressed in watts per meter squared kelvin W/(m⋅K). This means that the higher the U-value the worse the thermal performance of the building envelope. A low U-value usually indicates high levels of insulation. They are useful as it is a way of predicting the composite behavior of an entire building element rather than relying on the properties of individual materials.


title: R-value (insulation)

text: In most countries the properties of specific materials (such as insulation) are indicated by the thermal conductivity, sometimes called a k-value or lambda-value (lowercase λ). The thermal conductivity (k-value) is the ability of a material to conduct heat; hence, the lower the k-value, the better the material is for insulation. Expanded polystyrene (EPS) has a k-value of around 0.033 W/(m⋅K). For comparison, phenolic foam insulation has a k-value of around 0.018 W/(m⋅K), while wood varies anywhere from 0.15 to 0.75 W/(m⋅K), and steel has a k-value of approximately 50.0 W/(m⋅K). These figures vary from product to product, so the UK and EU have established a 90/90 standard which means that 90% of the product will conform to the stated k-value with a 90% confidence level so long as the figure quoted is stated as the 90/90 lambda-value.


title: R-value (insulation)

text: where formula_22 is the heat flux, formula_3 is the temperature difference across the material, "k" is the material's coefficient of thermal conductivity and "L" is its thickness. In some contexts, "U" is referred to as unit surface conductance.


title: R-value (insulation)

text: The term "U-factor" is usually used in the U.S. and Canada to express the heat flow through entire assemblies (such as roofs, walls, and windows). For example, energy codes such as ASHRAE 90.1 and the IECC prescribe U-values. However, R-value is widely used in practice to describe the thermal resistance of insulation products, layers, and most other parts of the building enclosure (walls, floors, roofs). Other areas of the world more commonly use U-value/U-factor for elements of the entire building enclosure including windows, doors, walls, roof, and ground slabs.


title: R-value (insulation)

text: For R-values there is no difference between U.S. and Imperial units, so the same I-P unit is used in both.


title: R-value (insulation)

text: R-values expressed in I-P units are approximately 5.68 times as large as R-values expressed in SI units. For example, a window that is R-2 in the I-P system is about RSI 0.35, since 2/5.68 ≈ 0.35.


title: R-value (insulation)

text: In countries where the SI system is generally in use, the R-values will also normally be given in SI units. This includes the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand.


title: R-value (insulation)

text: I-P values are commonly given in the United States and Canada, though in Canada normally both I-P and RSI values are listed.


title: R-value (insulation)

text: Because the units are usually not explicitly stated, one must decide from context which units are being used. In this regard, it helps to keep in mind that I-P R-values are 5.68 times larger than the corresponding SI R-values.


title: R-value (insulation)

text: The Australian Government explains that the required total R-values for the building fabric vary depending on climate zone. "Such materials include aerated concrete blocks, hollow expanded polystyrene blocks, straw bales and rendered extruded polystyrene sheets."


title: R-value (insulation)

text: In Germany, after the law Energieeinsparverordnung (EnEv) introduced in 2009 (October 10) regarding energy savings, all new buildings must demonstrate an ability to remain within certain boundaries of the U-value for each particular building material. Further, the EnEv describes the maximum coefficient for each new material if parts are replaced or added to standing structures.


title: R-value (insulation)

text: The U.S. Department of Energy has recommended R-values for given areas of the USA based on the general local energy costs for heating and cooling, as well as the climate of an area. There are four types of insulation: rolls and batts, loose-fill, rigid foam, and foam-in-place. Rolls and batts are typically flexible insulators that come in fibers, like fiberglass. Loose-fill insulation comes in loose fibers or pellets and should be blown into a space. Rigid foam is more expensive than fiber, but generally has a higher R-value per unit of thickness. Foam-in-place insulation can be blown into small areas to control air leaks, like those around windows, or can be used to insulate an entire house.


title: R-value (insulation)

text: Increasing the thickness of an insulating layer increases the thermal resistance. For example, doubling the thickness of fiberglass batting will double its R-value, perhaps from 2.0 m⋅K/W for 110 mm of thickness, up to 4.0 m⋅K/W for 220 mm of thickness. Heat transfer through an insulating layer is analogous to adding resistance to a series circuit with a fixed voltage. However, this only holds approximately because the effective thermal conductivity of some insulating materials depends on thickness. The addition of materials to enclose the insulation such as drywall and siding provides additional but typically much smaller R-value.


title: R-value (insulation)

text: There are many factors that come into play when using R-values to compute heat loss for a particular wall. Manufacturer R-values apply only to properly installed insulation. Squashing two layers of batting into the thickness intended for one layer will increase but not double the R-value. (In other words, compressing a fiberglass batt decreases the R-value of the batt but increases the R-value per inch.) Another important factor to consider is that studs and windows provide a parallel heat conduction path that is unaffected by the insulation's R-value. The practical implication of this is that one could double the R-value of insulation installed between framing members and realize substantially less than a 50 percent reduction in heat loss. When installed between wall studs, even perfect wall insulation only eliminates conduction through the insulation but leaves unaffected the conductive heat loss through such materials as glass windows and studs. Insulation installed between the studs may reduce, but usually does not eliminate, heat losses due to air leakage through the building envelope. Installing a continuous layer of rigid foam insulation on the exterior side of the wall sheathing will interrupt thermal bridging through the studs while also reducing the rate of air leakage.


title: R-value (insulation)

text: The R-value is a measure of an insulation sample's ability to reduce the rate of heat flow under specified test conditions. The primary mode of heat transfer impeded by insulation is conduction, but insulation also reduces heat loss by all three heat transfer modes: conduction, convection, and radiation. The primary heat loss across an uninsulated air-filled space is natural convection, which occurs because of changes in air density with temperature. Insulation greatly retards natural convection making conduction the primary mode of heat transfer. Porous insulations accomplish this by trapping air so that significant convective heat loss is eliminated, leaving only conduction and minor radiation transfer. The primary role of such insulation is to make the thermal conductivity of the insulation that of trapped, stagnant air. However this cannot be realized fully because the glass wool or foam needed to prevent convection increases the heat conduction compared to that of still air. The minor radiative heat transfer is obtained by having many surfaces interrupting a "clear view" between the inner and outer surfaces of the insulation such as visible light is interrupted from passing through porous materials. Such multiple surfaces are abundant in batting and porous foam. Radiation is also minimized by low emissivity (highly reflective) exterior surfaces such as aluminum foil. Lower thermal conductivity, or higher R-values, can be achieved by replacing air with argon when practical such as within special closed-pore foam insulation because argon has a lower thermal conductivity than air.


title: R-value (insulation)

text: Heat transfer through an insulating layer is analogous to electrical resistance. The heat transfers can be worked out by thinking of resistance in series with a fixed potential, except the resistances are thermal resistances and the potential is the difference in temperature from one side of the material to the other. The resistance of each material to heat transfer depends on the specific thermal resistance [R-value]/[unit thickness], which is a property of the material (see table below) and the thickness of that layer. A thermal barrier that is composed of several layers will have several thermal resistors in the analogous with circuits, each in series. Analogous to a set of resistors in parallel, a well insulated wall with a poorly insulated window will allow proportionally more of the heat to go through the (low-R) window, and additional insulation in the wall will only minimally improve the overall R-value. As such, the least well insulated section of a wall will play the largest role in heat transfer relative to its size, similar to the way most current flows through the lowest resistance resistor in a parallel array. Hence ensuring that windows, service breaks (around wires/pipes), doors, and other breaks in a wall are well sealed and insulated is often the most cost effective way to improve the insulation of a structure, once the walls are sufficiently insulated.


title: R-value (insulation)

text: Like resistance in electrical circuits, increasing the physical length (for insulation, thickness) of a resistive element, such as graphite for example, increases the resistance linearly; double the thickness of a layer means double the R-value and half the heat transfer; quadruple, quarters; etc. In practice, this linear relationship does not always hold for compressible materials such as glass wool and cotton batting whose thermal properties change when compressed. So, for example, if one layer of fiberglass insulation in an attic provides R-20 thermal resistance, adding on a second layer will not necessarily double the thermal resistance because the first layer will be compressed by the weight of the second.


title: R-value (insulation)

text: To find the average heat loss per unit area, simply divide the temperature difference by the R-value for the layer.


title: R-value (insulation)

text: If the interior of a home is at 20 °C and the roof cavity is at 10 °C then the temperature difference is 10 °C (or 10 K). Assuming a ceiling insulated to RSI 2.0 (R = 2 m⋅K/W), energy will be lost at a rate of 10 K / (2 K⋅m/W) = 5 watts for every square meter (W/m) of ceiling. The RSI-value used here is for the actual insulating layer (and not per unit thickness of insulation).


title: R-value (insulation)

text: R-value should not be confused with the intrinsic property of thermal resistivity and its inverse, thermal conductivity. The SI unit of thermal resistivity is K⋅m/W. Thermal conductivity assumes that the heat transfer of the material is linearly related to its thickness.


title: R-value (insulation)

text: In calculating the R-value of a multi-layered installation, the R-values of the individual layers are added:


title: R-value (insulation)

text: To account for other components in a wall such as framing, first calculate the U-value (= 1/R-value) of each component, then the area-weighted average U-value. An average R-value is 1/(average U-value). For example, if 10% of the area is 4 inches of softwood (R-value 5.6) and 90% is 2 inches of silica aerogel (R-value 20), the area-weighted U-value is 0.1/5.6 + 0.9/20 ≈ 0.0629 and the weighted R-value is 1/0.0629 ≈ 15.9.


title: R-value (insulation)

text: Thermal conductivity is conventionally defined as the rate of thermal conduction through a material per unit area per unit thickness per unit temperature differential (Δ"T"). The inverse of conductivity is resistivity (or R per unit thickness). Thermal conductance is the rate of heat flux through a unit area at the installed thickness and any given Δ"T".


title: R-value (insulation)

text: Experimentally, thermal conduction is measured by placing the material in contact between two conducting plates and measuring the energy flux required to maintain a certain temperature gradient.


title: R-value (insulation)

text: For the most part, testing the R-value of insulation is done at a steady temperature, usually about with no surrounding air movement. Since these are ideal conditions, the listed R-value for insulation will almost certainly be higher than it would be in actual use, because most situations with insulation are under different conditions


title: R-value (insulation)

text: A definition of R-value based on apparent thermal conductivity has been proposed in document C168 published by the American Society for Testing and Materials. This describes heat being transferred by all three mechanisms—conduction, radiation, and convection.


title: R-value (insulation)

text: Debate remains among representatives from different segments of the U.S. insulation industry during revision of the U.S. FTC's regulations about advertising R-values illustrating the complexity of the issues.


title: R-value (insulation)

text: There are weaknesses to using a single laboratory model to simultaneously assess the properties of a material to resist conducted, radiated, and convective heating. Surface temperature varies depending on the mode of heat transfer.


title: R-value (insulation)

text: If we assume idealized heat transfer between the air on each side and the surface of the insulation, the surface temperature of the insulator would equal the air temperature on each side.


title: R-value (insulation)

text: In response to thermal radiation, surface temperature depends on the thermal emissivity of the material. Low-emissivity surfaces such as shiny metal foil will reduce heat transfer by radiation.


title: R-value (insulation)

text: Convection will alter the rate of heat transfer between the air and the surface of the insulator, depending on the flow characteristics of the air (or other fluid) in contact with it.


title: R-value (insulation)

text: With multiple modes of heat transfer, the final surface temperature (and hence the observed energy flux and calculated R-value) will be dependent on the relative contributions of radiation, conduction, and convection, even though the total energy contribution remains the same.


title: R-value (insulation)

text: This is an important consideration in building construction because heat energy arrives in different forms and proportions. The contribution of radiative and conductive heat sources also varies throughout the year and both are important contributors to thermal comfort


title: R-value (insulation)

text: In the hot season, solar radiation predominates as the source of heat gain. According to the Stefan–Boltzmann law, radiative heat transfer is related to the fourth power of the absolute temperature (measured in kelvins: "T" [K] = "T" [°C] + 273.16). Therefore, such transfer is at its most significant when the objective is to cool (i.e. when solar radiation has produced very warm surfaces). On the other hand, the conductive and convective heat loss modes play a more significant role during the cooler months. At such lower ambient temperatures the traditional fibrous, plastic and cellulose insulations play by far the major role: the radiative heat transfer component is of far less importance, and the main contribution of the radiation barrier is in its superior air-tightness contribution.


title: R-value (insulation)

text: In summary: claims for radiant barrier insulation are justifiable at high temperatures, typically when minimizing summer heat transfer; but these claims are not justifiable in traditional winter (keeping-warm) conditions.


title: R-value (insulation)

text: Unlike bulk insulators, radiant barriers resist conducted heat poorly. Materials such as reflective foil have a high thermal conductivity and would function poorly as a conductive insulator. Radiant barriers retard heat transfer by two means: by reflecting radiant energy away from its irradiated surface and by reducing the emission of radiation from its opposite side.


title: R-value (insulation)

text: The question of how to quantify performance of other systems such as radiant barriers has resulted in controversy and confusion in the building industry with the use of R-values or 'equivalent R-values' for products which have entirely different systems of inhibiting heat transfer. (In the U.S., the federal government's R-Value Rule establishes a legal definition for the R-value of a building material; the term 'equivalent R-value' has no legal definition and is therefore meaningless.) According to current standards, R-values are most reliably stated for bulk insulation materials. All of the products quoted at the end are examples of these.


title: R-value (insulation)

text: Calculating the performance of radiant barriers is more complex. With a good radiant barrier in place, most heat flow is by convection, which depends on many factors other than the radiant barrier itself. Although radiant barriers have high reflectivity (and low emissivity) over a range of electromagnetic spectra (including visible and UV light), their thermal advantages are mainly related to their emissivity in the infra-red range. Emissivity values are the appropriate metric for radiant barriers. Their effectiveness when employed to resist heat gain in limited applications is established,


title: R-value (insulation)

text: While research is lacking on the long-term degradation of R-value in insulation, recent research indicates that the R-values of products may deteriorate over time. For instance, the compaction of loose fill cellulose creates voids that reduce overall performance; this may be avoided by densely packing at initial installation. Some types of foam insulation, such as polyurethane and polyisocyanurate are blown into form with heavy gases such as chlorofluorocarbons (CFC) or hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HFCs). However, over time these gases diffuse out of the foam and are replaced by air, thus reducing the effective R-value of the product. There are other foams which do not change significantly with aging because they are blown with water or are open-cell and contain no trapped CFCs or HFCs (e.g., half-pound low density foams). On certain brands, twenty-year tests have shown no shrinkage or reduction in insulating value.


title: R-value (insulation)

text: This has led to controversy as how to rate the insulation of these products. Many manufacturers will rate the R-value at the time of manufacture; critics argue that a more fair assessment would be its settled value. The foam industry adopted the LTTR (Long-Term Thermal Resistance) method, which rates the R-value based on a 15-year weighted average. However, the LTTR effectively provides only an eight-year aged R-value, short in the scale of a building that may have a lifespan of 50 to 100 years.


title: R-value (insulation)

text: Research has been conducted by the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center on the long-term degradation of insulating materials. Values on the degradation were obtained from short-term laboratory testing on materials exposed to various temperature and humidity conditions. Results indicate that moisture absorption and loss of blowing agent (in closed cell spray polyurethane foam) were major causes of R-Value loss. Fiberglass and extruded polystyrene retained over 97% of their initial R-values while, aerogels and closed cell polyurethane saw a reduction of 15% and 27.5%, respectively. Results suggest an exponential decay law over time applies to R-values for closed cell polyurethanes and aerogel blankets.


title: R-value (insulation)

text: Correct attention to air sealing measures and consideration of vapor transfer mechanisms are important for the optimal function of bulk insulators. Air infiltration can allow convective heat transfer or condensation formation, both of which may degrade the performance of an insulation.


title: R-value (insulation)

text: One of the primary values of spray-foam insulation is its ability to create an airtight (and in some cases, watertight) seal directly against the substrate to reduce the undesirable effects of air leakage. Other construction technologies are also used to reduce or eliminate infiltration such as air sealing techniques.


title: R-value (insulation)

text: The deterioration of R-values is especially a problem when defining the energy efficiency of an existing building. Especially in older or historic buildings the R-values defined before construction might be very different than the actual values. This greatly affects energy efficiency analysis. To obtain reliable data, R-values are therefore often determined via U-value measurements at the specific location (in situ). There are several potential methods to this, each with their specific trade-offs: thermography, multiple temperature measurements, and the heat flux method.


title: R-value (insulation)

text: Thermography is applied in the building sector to assess the quality of the thermal insulation of a room or building. By means of a thermographic camera thermal bridges and inhomogeneous insulation parts can be identified. However, it does not produce any quantitative data. This method can only be used to approximate the U-value or the inverse R-value.


title: R-value (insulation)

text: This approach is based on three or more temperature measurements inside and outside of a building element. By synchronizing these measurements and making some basic assumptions, it is possible to calculate the heat flux indirectly, and thus deriving the U-value of a building element. The following requirements have to be fulfilled for reliable results:


title: R-value (insulation)

text: The R-value of a building element can be determined by using a heat flux sensor in combination with two temperature sensors. By measuring the heat that is flowing through a building element and combining this with the inside and outside temperature, it is possible to define the R-value precisely. A measurement that lasts at least 72 hours with a temperature difference of at least 5 °C is required for a reliable result according to ISO 9869 norms, but shorter measurement durations give a reliable indication of the R-value as well. The progress of the measurement can be viewed on the laptop via corresponding software and obtained data can be used for further calculations. Measuring devices for such heat flux measurements are offered by companies like FluxTeq, Ahlborn, greenTEG and Hukseflux.


title: R-value (insulation)

text: Placing the heat flux sensor on either the inside or outside surface of the building element allows one to determine the heat flux through the heat flux sensor as a representative value for the heat flux through the building element. The heat flux through the heat flux sensor is the rate of heat flow through the heat flux sensor divided by the surface area of the heat flux sensor. Placing the temperature sensors on the inside and outside surfaces of the building element allows one to determine the inside surface temperature, outside surface temperature, and the temperature difference between them. In some cases the heat flux sensor itself can serve as one of the temperature sensors. The R-value for the building element is the temperature difference between the two temperature sensors divided by the heat flux through the heat flux sensor. The mathematical formula is:


title: R-value (insulation)

text: The derived R-value and U-value may be accurate to the extent that the heat flux through the heat flux sensor equals the heat flux through the building element. Recording all of the available data allows one to study the dependence of the R-value and U-value on factors like the inside temperature, outside temperature, or position of the heat flux sensor. To the extent that all heat transfer processes (conduction, convection, and radiation) contribute to the measurements, the derived R-value represents an apparent R-value.


title: R-value (insulation)

text: Vacuum insulated panels have the highest R-value, approximately R-45 (in U.S. units) per inch; aerogel has the next highest R-value (about R-10 to R-30 per inch), followed by polyurethane (PUR) and phenolic foam insulations with R-7 per inch. They are followed closely by polyisocyanurate (PIR) at R-5.8, graphite impregnated expanded polystyrene at R-5, and expanded polystyrene (EPS) at R-4 per inch. Loose cellulose, fibreglass (both blown and in batts), and rock wool (both blown and in batts) all possess an R-value of roughly R-2.5 to R-4 per inch.


title: R-value (insulation)

text: Straw bales perform at about R-2.38 to 2.68 per inch, depending on orientation of the bales. However, typical straw bale houses have very thick walls and thus are well insulated. Snow is roughly R-1 per inch. Brick has a very poor insulating ability at a mere R-0.2 per inch; however it does have a relatively good thermal mass.


title: R-value (insulation)

text: When determining the overall thermal resistance of a building assembly such as a wall or roof, the insulating effect of the surface air film is added to the thermal resistance of the other materials.


title: R-value (insulation)

text: In practice the above surface values are used for floors, ceilings, and walls in a building, but are not accurate for enclosed air cavities, such as between panes of glass. The effective thermal resistance of an enclosed air cavity is strongly influenced by radiative heat transfer and distance between the two surfaces. See insulated glazing for a comparison of R-values for windows, with some effective R-values that include an air cavity.


title: R-value (insulation)

text: The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) governs claims about R-values to protect consumers against deceptive and misleading advertising claims. It issued the R-Value Rule.


title: R-value (insulation)

text: The primary purpose of the rule is to ensure that the home insulation marketplace provides this essential pre-purchase information to the consumer. The information gives consumers an opportunity to compare relative insulating efficiencies, to select the product with the greatest efficiency and potential for energy savings, to make a cost-effective purchase and to consider the main variables limiting insulation effectiveness and realization of claimed energy savings.


title: R-value (insulation)

text: The rule mandates that specific R-value information for home insulation products be disclosed in certain ads and at the point of sale. The purpose of the R-value disclosure requirement for advertising is to prevent consumers from being misled by certain claims which have a bearing on insulating value. At the point of transaction, some consumers will be able to get the requisite R-value information from the label on the insulation package. However, since the evidence shows that packages are often unavailable for inspection prior to purchase, no labeled information would be available to consumers in many instances. As a result, the Rule requires that a fact sheet be available to consumers for inspection before they make their purchase.


title: Heretics of Dune

text: Heretics of Dune is a 1984 science fiction novel by Frank Herbert, the fifth in his "Dune" series of six novels. It was ranked as the No. 13 hardcover fiction best seller of 1984 by "The New York Times".


title: Heretics of Dune

text: Fifteen hundred years have passed since the 3,500-year reign of the God Emperor Leto II Atreides ended with his assassination; humanity is firmly on the Golden Path, Leto's plan to save humanity from destruction. By crushing the aspirations of humans for over three thousand years, Leto caused the Scattering, an explosion of humanity into the rest of the universe upon his death. Now, some of those who went out into the universe are coming back, bent on conquest. Only the Bene Gesserit perceive the Golden Path and are therefore faced with a choice: keep to their traditional role of hidden manipulators who quietly ease tensions and guide human progress while struggling for their own survival, or embrace the Golden Path and push humanity onward into a new future where humans are free from the threat of extinction.