title: Arado Ar 234

text: In addition, some Ar 234 B-2 airframes were modified to serve as night fighters. Designated Ar 234B-2/N and code named "Nachtigall" (Nightingale), these were fitted with FuG 218 "Neptun" VHF-band radar, with the appropriately reduced-dipole length version of the standard "Hirschgeweih" eight-dipole element, VHF-band transceiving AI radar antenna system, and carried a pair of forward-firing 20mm MG 151/20 autocannon within a "Magirusbombe" conformal gun pod on the rear fuselage hardpoint. A second crew member, who operated the radar systems, was accommodated in a cramped compartment in the rear. Two of these jury-rigged night fighters served with "Kommando Bonow", an experimental test unit attached to Luftflotte Reich. Operations commenced in March 1945, but the unit found the aircraft unsuitable for night fighting and no kills were recorded.


title: Arado Ar 234

text: The Ar 234C was equipped with four lighter weight (at 625 kg/1,380 lb apiece) BMW 003A engines mounted in a pair of twin-engine nacelles based on those from the eighth prototype. The primary reason for this switch was to free up the Junkers Jumo 004s for use by the Me 262, but the change improved overall thrust to nearly 3.2 tonnes (7,040 lbf) with all four BMW jets at full takeoff power, especially useful for takeoff and climb-to-altitude performance. An improved cockpit design, with a slightly bulged outline for the upper contour integrating a swept-back fairing for the periscope, used a simplified window design with fewer glazed panels for ease of production. The four BMW jet engines gave about 20% greater airspeed than the B series airframes, and the faster climb to altitude meant more efficient flight and increased range.


title: Arado Ar 234

text: During October 1944, the prototype Ar 234 V19 performed its maiden flight. Although an operational test squadron was being prepared, only 14 C-series airframes had been completed by the end of the war, of which fewer than half had engines. Some were found at the end of the war sitting in the open, complete but for empty engine nacelles. Comprehensive flight testing of the new sub-type had yet to begin when Germany surrendered. Three basic variants of the C-series were planned for initial construction, with several more laid out as detailed proposals. Some of these would have had a pair of the higher thrust, but heavier Heinkel HeS 011 jet engines, while others were intended to feature swept or "crescent"-type wings.


title: Arado Ar 234

text: The D model was intended to be a two-seat aircraft based on the B-series fuselage, but with an enlarged cockpit using fewer glazing panels than the C version, powered by a pair of more powerful Heinkel HeS 011 turbojet engines. The HeS 011 powerplant never reached quantity production, with only 19 examples of the new powerplants ever created. No 234D was produced, only a few wooden engineering mockups.


title: Arado Ar 234

text: The P model was intended to be a two-seat night fighter version with a variant of the D-series cockpit, differing in powerplant options and several options of radar. Several were in the planning stage, but none made it into production.


title: Arado Ar 234

text: By 1944, the Luftwaffe's bombing capability had been severely degraded on account of attrition from the extended combat across multiple fronts that it was being tasked with. Accordingly, despite the performance potential represented by the pending arrival of production Ar 234s that year, there was a shortage of experienced bomber pilots to crew them. The first unit-level type conversion directives were issued to III/KG 76 in May 1944; personnel had to be disengaged from flying legacy types such the Junkers Ju 88 on the front lines and brought to central Germany for familiarisation with the aircraft and its unfamiliar form of propulsion. This process was greatly assisted by the use of twin-seat Messerschmitt Me 262s.


title: Arado Ar 234

text: Various challenges were encountered in trying to bring the Ar 234 up to operational status; these allegedly included the poor quality of worksmanship present on some aircraft, and an increasingly severe shortage of certain resources, such as aviation-grade fuel. The reliability of the Jumo 004 engines would actually worsen over time, a trend that the aviation historian Philippe Bauduin attributed to the use of ill-suited fuel. Issues with the engines included constant flameouts and the necessity of their overhaul or total replacement after roughly ten hours of operation; as ground crews became more skilled, the time taken to swap engines was greatly reduced. Furthermore, it had been observed that the aircraft's lengthy takeoff runs were responsible for several accidents; attempts at resolution included improvements to pilot training to the use of twin jettisonable liquid fuel "Starthilfe" rocket assisted takeoff units, one under each outer wing. Accidents would often be fatal due to the lack of an ejector seat, the pilot instead being left to exit the aircraft in an emergency via a glass hatch in the floor of the cockpit that proved to be highly impractical.


title: Arado Ar 234

text: During August 1944, several of the Ar 234 prototypes - including a few of the surviving six Ar 234A-series prototypes - were dispatched on active aerial reconnaissance missions. The seventh prototype would perform the first reconnaissance mission over the United Kingdom by a Luftwaffe jet. Amongst other purposes, these reconnaissance flights were used to assess the potential for an Allied naval invasion of the Netherlands. Allied fighter aircraft, even when they were able to make visual contact with them, proved unable to intervene against them, being incapable of matching their speed. The aircraft were relatively difficult to encounter, possessing a relatively high cruising speed of roughly while flying at an altitude in excess of .


title: Arado Ar 234

text: During the autumn of 1944, the first Ar 234Bs begun to enter service. Early missions included attacks in the Low Countries, striking at the docks at Antwerp and a railway station in Brussels. The type was used directly against Allied units during the Battle of the Bulge; in January 1945, numerous Ar 234s were dispatched to attack artillery positions to the north of Bastogne. One month later, the Allies were able to capture a crashed Ar 234 after it had been forced by a Republic P-47 Thunderbolt to crash-land. The type was also saw action in Northern Italy.


title: Arado Ar 234

text: Perhaps the most notable use of the Ar 234 in the bomber role was the attempt to destroy the Ludendorff Bridge at Remagen. Between 7 March, when it was captured by the Allies, and 17 March, when it finally collapsed, the bridge was continually attacked by Ar 234s of III/KG 76 carrying bombs. Due to these attacks being made from a low altitude, serious losses were encountered from ground-based anti-aircraft guns, while the majority of bombs delivered by the type missed the bridge anyhow.


title: Arado Ar 234

text: By 10 April 1945, a total of 38 operational Ar 234s were reportedly on strength with the Luftwaffe, comprising 24 reconnaissance aircraft, 12 bombers, and two night-fighters. However, a large number simply sat on German airfields awaiting fuel that never arrived or qualified personnel to operate them.


title: Arado Ar 234

text: The Ar 234 continued fly combat missions in an increasing ad hoc fashion up until the surrender of Germany on 8 May 1945. Several were recorded as having been lost in combat, either shot down in air combat, destroyed by flak, or "bounced" by Allied fighters during takeoff or on the landing approach. Numerous examples were captured by the Allies.


title: Arado Ar 234

text: Only one Ar 234 survives today, a B-2 bomber variant with manufacturer's serial number 140312. It was one of nine Ar 234s surrendered to British forces at Sola Airfield near Stavanger, Norway. The aircraft had been operating with "8. Staffel" III./"Kampfgeschwader 76" (later reorganised as "Einsatzstaffel") during the final weeks of the war, having operated previously with the 8th squadron, carrying the full-four-character "Geschwaderkennung" military code "F1+GS" on the fuselage sides, with the wing code "F1" painted in a much reduced size for sanctioned, late-war "low-visibility" requirements.


title: Arado Ar 234

text: Teams of the USAAF's Operation Lusty were collecting examples of Luftwaffe technology for study. This aircraft and three others were traded to Operation Lusty by Eric "Winkle" Brown (test pilot and commanding officer of the Enemy Aircraft Flight at the Royal Aircraft Establishment) in exchange for an interview with Hermann Göring who was then being held by the Americans.


title: Arado Ar 234

text: The aircraft was flown from Sola to Cherbourg in France on 24 June 1945 where it joined 34 other German aircraft to be shipped to the U.S. aboard the British aircraft carrier . "Reaper" departed from Cherbourg on 20 July and arrived at Newark, New Jersey eight days later. Upon arrival two of the Ar 234s were reassembled (including 140312) and flown by USAAF pilots to Freeman Army Airfield, Indiana for testing and evaluation. 140312 was assigned the foreign equipment number FE-1010. The fate of the second Ar 234 flown to Freeman Field remains a mystery. One of the remaining two was reassembled by the United States Navy at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland, for testing, but was found to be in unflyable condition and scrapped.


title: Arado Ar 234

text: After receiving new engines, radio and oxygen equipment, 140312 was transferred to Wright Field near Dayton, Ohio and delivered to the Accelerated Service Test Maintenance Squadron of the Flight Test Division in July 1946. Flight testing was completed on 16 October 1946 though the aircraft remained at Wright Field until 1947. It was then transferred to Orchard Place Airport in Park Ridge, Illinois, and remained there until 1 May 1949 when it and several other aircraft stored at the airport were transferred to the Smithsonian Institution. During the early 1950s, the Ar 234 was moved to the Smithsonian's Paul Garber Restoration Facility at Suitland, Maryland for storage and eventual restoration.


title: Arado Ar 234

text: The Smithsonian began restoring 140312 in 1984 and finished in February 1989. All paint had been stripped from the aircraft before the Smithsonian received it, so the aircraft was painted with the markings of an aircraft of 8./KG 76, the first operational unit to fly the "Blitz". The restored aircraft was first displayed at the Smithsonian's main museum building in 1993 as part of a display titled "Wonder Weapon? The Arado Ar 234". In 2005 it became one of the first aircraft moved to the new Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center near Dulles International Airport. Today, 140312 is displayed next to the last surviving Dornier Do 335, one of the other aircraft that accompanied it on its voyage across the Atlantic Ocean aboard the "Reaper".


title: Arado Ar 234

text: This aircraft is displayed with a pair of "Starthilfe" RATO units mounted under its wings. These may be the only surviving examples to be mounted on an aircraft design that actually used them during the conflict.


title: Alexander Shulgin

text: Alexander Theodore "Sasha" Shulgin (June 17, 1925 – June 2, 2014) was an American medicinal chemist, biochemist, organic chemist, pharmacologist, psychopharmacologist, and author. He is credited with introducing 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA, commonly known as "ecstasy") to psychologists in the late 1970s for psychopharmaceutical use and for the discovery, synthesis and personal bioassay of over 230 psychoactive compounds for their psychedelic and entactogenic potential.


title: Alexander Shulgin

text: In 1991 and 1997, he and his wife Ann Shulgin compiled the books "PiHKAL" and "TiHKAL" (standing for "Phenethylamines" and "Tryptamines I Have Known And Loved"), from notebooks that extensively described their work and personal experiences with these two classes of psychoactive drugs. Shulgin performed seminal work into the descriptive synthesis of many of these compounds. Some of Shulgin's noteworthy discoveries include compounds of the 2C* family (such as 2C-B) and compounds of the DOx family (such as DOM).


title: Alexander Shulgin

text: Due in part to Shulgin's extensive work in the field of psychedelic research and the rational drug design of psychedelic drugs, he has since been dubbed the "godfather of psychedelics".


title: Alexander Shulgin

text: Shulgin was born in Berkeley, California, to Theodore Stevens Shulgin (1893–1978) and Henrietta D. (Aten) Shulgin (1894–1960). His father was born in Chelyabinsk, Russia; his mother was born in Illinois. Theodore and Henrietta were public school teachers in Alameda County.


title: Alexander Shulgin

text: Shulgin began studying organic chemistry as a Harvard University scholarship student at the age of 16. In 1943 he dropped out of school to join the U.S. Navy. While serving on USS "Pope" during World War II, a nurse gave Shulgin a glass of orange juice prior to surgery for a thumb infection. Shulgin drank the juice and, assuming that the powder at the bottom of the glass was a sedative, fell asleep rapidly. Upon waking he learned that the powder was undissolved sugar. The experience made him aware of the influence of placebos over the human mind.


title: Alexander Shulgin

text: After serving in the Navy, Shulgin returned to Berkeley, California, and in 1954 earned his PhD in biochemistry from the University of California, Berkeley. Through the late 1950s Shulgin completed post-doctoral work in the fields of psychiatry and pharmacology at University of California, San Francisco. After working at Bio-Rad Laboratories as a research director for a brief period, he began work at Dow Chemical Company as a senior research chemist.


title: Alexander Shulgin

text: At this time he had a series of psychedelic experiences that helped to shape his further goals and research, the first of which was brought on by mescaline.


title: Alexander Shulgin

text: "I first explored mescaline in the late '50s ... Three-hundred-fifty to 400 milligrams. I learned there was a great deal inside me."


title: Alexander Shulgin

text: Shulgin later reported personal revelations that "had been brought about by a fraction of a gram of a white solid, but that in no way whatsoever could it be argued that these memories had been contained within the white solid ... I understood that our entire universe is contained in the mind and the spirit. We may choose not to find access to it, we may even deny its existence, but it is indeed there inside us, and there are chemicals that can catalyze its availability."


title: Alexander Shulgin

text: Shulgin's professional activities continued to lean in the direction of psychopharmacology, furthered by his personal experiences with psychedelics. But during this period he was unable to do much independent research. His opportunity for further research came in 1961 after his development of Zectran, the first biodegradable pesticide, a highly profitable product. In his book "PIHKAL", Shulgin limits his pesticide days at Dow Chemical to one sentence in 978 pages. Dow Chemical Company, in return for Zectran's valuable patent, gave Shulgin great freedom. During this time, he created and patented drugs when Dow asked, and published findings on other drugs in journals such as "Nature" and the "Journal of Organic Chemistry". Eventually, Dow Chemical requested that he no longer use their name on his publications.


title: Alexander Shulgin

text: In late 1966, Shulgin left Dow in order to pursue his own interests. He first spent two years studying neurology at the University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine, leaving to work on a consulting project. He set up a home-based lab on his property, known as "the Farm", and became a private consultant. He also taught classes in the local universities and at the San Francisco General Hospital. Through his friend Bob Sager, head of the U.S. DEA's Western Laboratories, Shulgin formed a relationship with the DEA and began holding pharmacology seminars for the agents, supplying the DEA with samples of various compounds, and occasionally serving as an expert witness in court. In 1988, he authored a then-definitive law enforcement reference book on controlled substances, and received several awards from the DEA.


title: Alexander Shulgin

text: Shulgin was married to Nina Gordon until her death. He then married author Ann Gotlieb. He spent most of his later life at the Farm in Lafayette, California.


title: Alexander Shulgin

text: On April 8, 2008, at the age of 82, he underwent surgery to replace a defective aortic valve. On November 16, 2010, he suffered a stroke, from which he largely recovered. Also at the close of 2010, a skin-grafting surgery saved his left foot from being amputated. Around this time, Shulgin began showing early signs of dementia, mostly severe loss of short-term memory. With progression of the dementia since 2010, his wife, Ann Shulgin, had been trying to sell part of their property to raise more money to cover care costs.


title: Alexander Shulgin

text: On April 17, 2014, Ann Shulgin reported on Facebook that her husband had developed liver cancer, and in a May 31 update on Facebook she said that, although appearing frail, he seemed to be experiencing his last moments in peace and without pain. Shulgin died at his home on June 2, 2014, at the age of 88.


title: Alexander Shulgin

text: In order to work with scheduled psychoactive chemicals, Shulgin obtained a DEA Schedule I license for an analytical laboratory, which allowed him to synthesize and possess any otherwise illicit drug. Shulgin set up a chemical synthesis laboratory in a small building behind his house, which gave him a great deal of career autonomy. Shulgin used this freedom to synthesize and test the effects of potentially psychoactive drugs.


title: Alexander Shulgin

text: In 1976, Shulgin was introduced to MDMA by a student in the medicinal chemistry group he advised at San Francisco State University. MDMA had been synthesized in 1912 by Merck and patented in 1913 as an intermediate of another synthesis in order to block competitors, but was never explored in its own right. Shulgin went on to develop a new synthesis method, and in 1976, introduced the chemical to Leo Zeff, a psychologist from Oakland, California. Zeff used the substance in his practice in small doses as an aid to talk therapy. Zeff introduced the substance to hundreds of psychologists and lay therapists around the nation, including Ann (born Laura Ann Gotlieb), whom Alexander Shulgin met in 1979, and married in 1981. It was her fourth marriage, and she had four children.


title: Alexander Shulgin

text: After judicious self-experiments, Shulgin enlisted a small group of friends with whom he regularly tested his creations, starting in 1960. They developed a systematic way of ranking the effects of the various drugs, known as the Shulgin Rating Scale, with a vocabulary to describe the visual, auditory and physical sensations. He personally tested hundreds of drugs, mainly analogues of various phenethylamines (family containing MDMA, mescaline, and the 2C* family), and tryptamines (family containing DMT and psilocin). There are a seemingly infinite number of slight chemical variations, which can produce variations in effect — some pleasant and some unpleasant, depending on the person, substance, and situation — all of which are meticulously recorded in Shulgin's lab notebooks. Shulgin published many of these objective and subjective reports in his books and papers. About 2C-B he said in 2003: "It is, in my opinion, one of the most graceful, erotic, sensual, introspective compounds I have ever invented. For most people, it is a short-lived and comfortable psychedelic, with neither toxic side-effects nor next-day hang-over."


title: Alexander Shulgin

text: In 1994, two years after the publication of "PIHKAL", the DEA raided his lab. The agency requested that Shulgin turn over his license for violating the license's terms, and he was fined $25,000 for possession of anonymous samples sent to him for quality testing. In the 15 years preceding the publication of "PIHKAL", two announced and scheduled reviews failed to find any irregularities. Richard Meyer, spokesman for DEA's San Francisco Field Division, has stated that, "It is our opinion that those books are pretty much cookbooks on how to make illegal drugs. Agents tell me that in clandestine labs that they have raided, they have found copies of those books."


title: Alexander Shulgin

text: Prior to his 2010 health issues, Shulgin had been working on a series of N-allylated tryptamines including 5-MeO-DALT and 5-MeO-MALT.


title: Alexander Shulgin

text: In a 2014 review of the synthesis of designer drugs, the effects of Shulgin's work were described as "by far the most far-reaching" effects associated with the cultural climate of interest at the time in hallucinogenic compounds generally and mescaline in particular, with which various artists and writers had experimented. Shulgin said that mescaline made him aware of a world submerged in human spirit, whose "availability" was "catalyzed" by such chemicals; the consequences of his insights were called "devastating" by the reviewers. In the same review, an example of his insights was given by his description of MDMA as "his low-calorie Martini".


title: Alexander Shulgin

text: Alexander was a Bohemian Club member. The Bohemian club is located in California where Alexander lived. Alexander refers to "The Owl Club" in chapter 11 of "PiHKAL":


title: Gestalt therapy

text: Gestalt therapy is a form of psychotherapy that emphasizes personal responsibility and focuses on the individual's experience in the present moment, the therapist–client relationship, the environmental and social contexts of a person's life, and the self-regulating adjustments people make as a result of their overall situation. It was developed by Fritz Perls, Laura Perls and Paul Goodman in the 1940s and 1950s, and was first described in the 1951 book "Gestalt Therapy".


title: Gestalt therapy

text: Edwin Nevis, co-founder of the Gestalt Institute of Cleveland, founder of the Gestalt International Study Center, and faculty member at the MIT Sloan School of Management, described Gestalt therapy as "a conceptual and methodological base from which helping professionals can craft their practice". In the same volume, Joel Latner stated that Gestalt therapy is built upon two central ideas: that the most helpful focus of psychotherapy is the experiential present moment, and that everyone is caught in webs of relationships; thus, it is only possible to know ourselves against the background of our relationships to others. The historical development of Gestalt therapy (described below) discloses the influences that generated these two ideas. Expanded, they support the four chief theoretical constructs (explained in the theory and practice section) that comprise Gestalt theory, and that guide the practice and application of Gestalt therapy.


title: Gestalt therapy

text: Gestalt therapy was forged from various influences upon the lives of its founders during the times in which they lived, including the new physics, Eastern religion, existential phenomenology, Gestalt psychology, psychoanalysis, experimental theatre, systems theory, and field theory. Gestalt therapy rose from its beginnings in the middle of the 20th century to rapid and widespread popularity during the decade of the 1960s and early 1970s. During the '70s and '80s Gestalt therapy training centers spread globally; but they were, for the most part, not aligned with formal academic settings. As the cognitive revolution eclipsed Gestalt theory in psychology, many came to believe Gestalt was an anachronism. Because Gestalt therapists disdained the positivism underlying what they perceived to be the concern of research, they largely ignored the need to use research to further develop Gestalt theory and Gestalt therapy practice (with a few exceptions like Les Greenberg; see the interview "Validating Gestalt"). However, the new century has seen a sea change in attitudes toward research and Gestalt practice. In March 2020, Vikram Kolmannskog became the world's first Professor of Gestalt Therapy at the Norwegian Gestalt Institute, where he has been teaching and researching since 2015.


title: Gestalt therapy

text: Gestalt therapy is not identical to Gestalt psychology, but Gestalt psychology influenced the development of Gestalt therapy to a large extent.


title: Gestalt therapy

text: Gestalt therapy focuses on process (what is actually happening) over content (what is being talked about). The emphasis is on what is being done, thought, and felt at the present moment (the phenomenality of both client and therapist), rather than on what was, might be, could be, or should have been. Gestalt therapy is a method of awareness practice (also called "mindfulness" in other clinical domains), by which perceiving, feeling, and acting are understood to be conducive to interpreting, explaining, and conceptualizing (the hermeneutics of experience). This distinction between direct experience versus indirect or secondary interpretation is developed in the process of therapy. The client learns to become aware of what they are doing and that triggers the ability to risk a shift or change.


title: Gestalt therapy

text: The objective of Gestalt therapy is to enable the client to become more fully and creatively alive and to become free from the blocks and unfinished business that may diminish satisfaction, fulfillment, and growth, and to experiment with new ways of being. For this reason Gestalt therapy falls within the category of humanistic psychotherapies. As Gestalt therapy includes perception and the meaning-making processes by which experience forms, it can also be considered a cognitive approach. Also, because Gestalt therapy relies on the contact between therapist and client, and because a relationship can be considered to be contact over time, Gestalt therapy can be considered a relational or interpersonal approach. As it appreciates the larger picture which is the complex situation involving multiple influences in a complex situation, it can also be considered a multi-systemic approach. In addition, the processes of Gestalt therapy are experimental, involving action, Gestalt therapy can be considered both a paradoxical and an experiential/experimental approach.


title: Gestalt therapy

text: When Gestalt therapy is compared to other clinical domains, a person can find many matches, or points of similarity. "Probably the clearest case of consilience is between gestalt therapy's field perspective and the various organismic and field theories that proliferated in neuroscience, medicine, and physics in the early and mid-20th century. Within social science there is a consilience between gestalt field theory and systems or ecological psychotherapy; between the concept of dialogical relationship and object relations, attachment theory, client-centered therapy and the transference-oriented approaches; between the existential, phenomenological, and hermeneutical aspects of gestalt therapy and the constructivist aspects of cognitive therapy; and between gestalt therapy's commitment to awareness and the natural processes of healing and mindfulness, acceptance and Buddhist techniques adopted by cognitive behavioral therapy."


title: Gestalt therapy

text: The theoretical foundations of Gestalt therapy essentially rests atop four "load-bearing walls": phenomenological method, dialogical relationship, field-theoretical strategies, and experimental freedom. Although all these tenets were present in the early formulation and practice of Gestalt therapy, as described in "Ego, Hunger and Aggression" (Perls, 1947) and in "Gestalt Therapy, Excitement and Growth in the Human Personality" (Perls, Hefferline, & Goodman, 1951), the early development of Gestalt therapy theory emphasized personal experience and the experiential episodes understood as "safe emergencies" or experiments. Indeed, half of the Perls, Hefferline, and Goodman book consists of such experiments. Later, through the influence of such people as Erving and Miriam Polster, a second theoretical emphasis emerged: namely, contact between self and other, and ultimately the dialogical relationship between therapist and client. Later still, field theory emerged as an emphasis. At various times over the decades, since Gestalt therapy first emerged, one or more of these tenets and the associated constructs that go with them have captured the imagination of those who have continued developing the contemporary theory of Gestalt therapy. Since 1990 the literature focused upon Gestalt therapy has flourished, including the development of several professional Gestalt journals. Along the way, Gestalt therapy theory has also been applied in Organizational Development and coaching work. And, more recently, Gestalt methods have been combined with meditation practices into a unified program of human development called Gestalt Practice, which is used by some practitioners.


title: Gestalt therapy

text: Richard G. Erskine, the originator of Integrative Psychotherapy (Developmentally Based, Relationally Focused), has written about the treatment of shame and self- righteousness in "A Gestalt therapy approach to shame and self-righteousness: theory and methods“ from his book Relational Patterns, Therapeutic Presence: Concepts and Practice of Integrative Psychotherapy (2015).


title: Gestalt therapy

text: The goal of a phenomenological exploration is awareness. This exploration works systematically to reduce the effects of bias through repeated observations and inquiry.


title: Gestalt therapy

text: The rule of epoché sets aside any initial theories with regard to what is presented in the meeting between therapist and client. The rule of description implies immediate and specific observations, abstaining from interpretations or explanations, especially those formed from the application of a clinical theory superimposed over the circumstances of experience. The rule of horizontalization avoids any hierarchical assignment of importance such that the data of experience become prioritized and categorized as they are received. A Gestalt therapist using the phenomenological method might say something like, "I notice a slight tension at the corners of your mouth when I say that, and I see you shifting on the couch and folding your arms across your chest ... and now I see you rolling your eyes back". Of course, the therapist may make a clinically relevant evaluation, but when applying the phenomenological method, temporarily suspends the need to express it.


title: Gestalt therapy

text: To create the conditions under which a dialogic moment might occur, the therapist attends to their own presence, creates the space for the client to enter in and become present as well (called inclusion), and commits themself to the dialogic process, surrendering to what takes place, as opposed to attempting to control it. With presence, the therapist judiciously "shows up" as a whole and authentic person, instead of assuming a role, false self or persona. The word 'judicious' used above refers to the therapist's taking into account the specific strengths, weaknesses and values of the client. The only good client is a live client, so driving a client away by injudicious exposure of intolerable [to this client] experience of the therapist is obviously counter-productive. For example, for an atheistic therapist to tell a devout client that religion is myth would not be useful, especially in the early stages of the relationship. To practice inclusion is to accept however the client chooses to be present, whether in a defensive and obnoxious stance or a superficially cooperative one. To practice inclusion is to support the presence of the client, including their resistance, not as a gimmick but in full realization that this is how the client is actually present and is the best this client can do at this time. Finally, the Gestalt therapist is committed to the process, trusts in that process, and does not attempt to save themself from it.


title: Gestalt therapy

text: Field theory is a concept borrowed from physics in which people and events are no longer considered discrete units but as parts of something larger, which are influenced by everything including the past, and observation itself. "The field" can be considered in two ways. There are ontological dimensions and there are phenomenological dimensions to one's field. The ontological dimensions are all those physical and environmental contexts in which we live and move. They might be the office in which one works, the house in which one lives, the city and country of which one is a citizen, and so forth. The ontological field is the objective reality that supports our physical existence. The phenomenological dimensions are all mental and physical dynamics that contribute to a person's sense of self, one's subjective experience—not merely elements of the environmental context. These might be the memory of an uncle's inappropriate affection, one's color blindness, one's sense of the social matrix in operation at the office in which one works, and so forth. The way that Gestalt therapists choose to work with field dynamics makes what they do strategic. Gestalt therapy focuses upon character structure; according to Gestalt theory, the character structure is dynamic rather than fixed in nature. To become aware of one's character structure, the focus is upon the phenomenological dimensions in the context of the ontological dimensions.


title: Gestalt therapy

text: Gestalt therapy is distinct because it moves toward action, away from mere talk therapy, and for this reason is considered an experiential approach. Through experiments, the therapist supports the client's direct experience of something new, instead of merely talking about the possibility of something new. Indeed, the entire therapeutic relationship may be considered experimental, because at one level it is a corrective, relational experience for many clients, and it is a "safe emergency" that is free to turn out however it will. An experiment can also be conceived as a teaching method that creates an experience in which a client might learn something as part of their growth.


title: Gestalt therapy

text: With all these experiments the Gestalt therapist is working with process rather than content, the "how" rather than the "what".


title: Gestalt therapy

text: In field theory, "self" is a phenomenological concept, existing in comparison with "other". Without the other there is no self, and how one experiences the other is inseparable from how one experiences oneself. The continuity of "selfhood" (functioning personality) is something that is achieved in relationship, rather than something inherently "inside" the person. This can have its advantages and disadvantages. At one end of the spectrum, someone may not have enough self-continuity to be able to make meaningful relationships, or to have a workable sense of who they are. In the middle, their personality is a loose set of ways of being that work for them, including commitments to relationships, work, culture and outlook, always open to change where they need to adapt to new circumstances or just want to try something new. At the other end, their personality is a rigid defensive denial of the new and spontaneous. They act in stereotyped ways, and either induce other people to act in particular and fixed ways towards them, or they redefine their actions to fit with fixed stereotypes.


title: Gestalt therapy

text: In Gestalt therapy, the process is not about the self of the client being helped or healed by the fixed self of the therapist; rather it is an exploration of the co-creation of self and other in the here-and-now of the therapy. There is no assumption that the client will act in all other circumstances as they do in the therapy situation. However, the areas that cause problems will be either the lack of self-definition leading to chaotic or psychotic behaviour, or the rigid self-definition in some area of functioning that denies spontaneity and makes dealing with particular situations impossible. Both of these conditions show up very clearly in the therapy, and can be worked with in the relationship with the therapist.


title: Gestalt therapy

text: The experience of the therapist is also very much part of the therapy. Since we co-create our self-other experiences, the way a therapist experiences being with a client is significant information about how the client experiences themselves. The proviso here is that a therapist is not operating from their own fixed responses. This is why Gestalt therapists are required to undertake significant therapy of their own during training.


title: Gestalt therapy

text: From the perspective of this theory of self, neurosis can be seen as fixed predictability—a fixed Gestalt—and the process of therapy can be seen as "facilitating the client to become unpredictable": more responsive to what is in the client's present environment, rather than responding in a stuck way to past introjects or other learning. If the therapist has expectations of how the client should end up, this defeats the aim of therapy.


title: Gestalt therapy

text: In what has now become a classic of Gestalt therapy literature, Arnold R. Beisser described Gestalt's paradoxical theory of change. The paradox is that the more one attempts to be who one is not, the more one remains the same. Conversely, when people identify with their current experience, the conditions of wholeness and growth support change. Put another way, change comes about as a result of "full acceptance of what is, rather than a striving to be different."


title: Gestalt therapy

text: Empty chair technique or chairwork is typically used in Gestalt therapy when a patient might have deep-rooted emotional problems from someone or something in their life, such as relationships with themselves, with aspects of their personality, their concepts, ideas, feelings, etc., or other people in their lives. The purpose of this technique is to get the patient to think about their emotions and attitudes. Common things the patient addresses in the empty chair are another person, aspects of their own personality, a certain feeling, etc., as if that thing were in that chair. They may also move between chairs and act out two or more sides of a discussion, typically involving the patient and persons significant to them. It uses a passive approach to opening up the patient's emotions and pent-up feelings so they can let go of what they have been holding back. A form of role-playing, the technique focuses on exploration of self and is used by therapists to help patients self-adjust. Gestalt techniques were originally a form of psychotherapy, but are now often used in counseling, for instance, by encouraging clients to act out their feelings helping them prepare for a new job. The purpose of the technique is so the patient will become more in touch with their feelings and have an emotional conversation that clears up any long-held feelings or reaction to the person or object in the chair.


title: Gestalt therapy

text: Fritz Perls was a German-Jewish psychoanalyst who fled Europe with his wife Laura Perls to South Africa in order to escape Nazi oppression in 1933. After World War II, the couple emigrated to New York City, which had become a center of intellectual, artistic and political experimentation by the late 1940s and early 1950s.


title: Gestalt therapy

text: Perls grew up on the bohemian scene in Berlin, participated in Expressionism and Dadaism, and experienced the turning of the artistic "avant-garde" toward the revolutionary left. Deployment to the front line, the trauma of war, anti-Semitism, intimidation, escape, and the Holocaust are further key sources of biographical influence.


title: Gestalt therapy

text: Perls served in the German Army during World War I, and was wounded in the conflict. After the war he was educated as a medical doctor. He became an assistant to Kurt Goldstein, who worked with brain-injured soldiers. Perls went through a psychoanalysis with Wilhelm Reich and became a psychiatrist. Perls assisted Goldstein at Frankfurt University where he met his wife Lore (Laura) Posner, who had earned a doctorate in Gestalt psychology. They fled Nazi Germany in 1933 and settled in South Africa. Perls established a psychoanalytic training institute and joined the South African armed forces, serving as a military psychiatrist. During these years in South Africa, Perls was influenced by Jan Smuts and his ideas about "holism".


title: Gestalt therapy

text: In 1936 Fritz Perls attended a psychoanalysts' conference in Marienbad, Czechoslovakia, where he presented a paper on oral resistances, mainly based on Laura Perls's notes on breastfeeding their children. Perls's paper was turned down. Perls did present his paper in 1936, but according to him, it met with "deep disapproval." Perls wrote his first book, "Ego, Hunger and Aggression" (1942, 1947), in South Africa, based in part on the rejected paper. It was later re-published in the United States. Laura Perls wrote two chapters of this book, but she was not given adequate recognition for her work.


title: Gestalt therapy

text: Perls's seminal work was "Gestalt Therapy: Excitement and Growth in the Human Personality", published in 1951, co-authored by Fritz Perls, Paul Goodman, and Ralph Hefferline (a university psychology professor and sometimes-patient of Fritz Perls). Most of Part II of the book was written by Paul Goodman from Perls's notes, and it contains the core of Gestalt theory. This part was supposed to appear first, but the publishers decided that Part I, written by Hefferline, fit into the nascent self-help ethos of the day, and they made it an introduction to the theory. Isadore From, a leading early theorist of Gestalt therapy, taught Goodman's Part II for an entire year to his students, going through it phrase by phrase.


title: Gestalt therapy

text: Fritz and Laura founded the first Gestalt Institute in 1952, running it out of their Manhattan apartment. Isadore From became a patient, first of Fritz, and then of Laura. Fritz soon made From a trainer, and also gave him some patients. From lived in New York until his death, at age seventy-five, in 1993. He was known worldwide for his philosophical and intellectually rigorous take on Gestalt therapy. Acknowledged as a supremely gifted clinician, he was indisposed to writing, so what remains of his work is merely transcripts of interviews.


title: Gestalt therapy

text: Of great importance to understanding the development of Gestalt therapy is the early training which took place in experiential groups in the Perls's apartment, led by both Fritz and Laura before Fritz left for the West Coast, and after by Laura alone. These "trainings" were unstructured, with little didactic input from the leaders, although many of the principles were discussed in the monthly meetings of the institute, as well as at local bars after the sessions. Many notable Gestalt therapists emerged from these crucibles in addition to Isadore From, e.g., Richard Kitzler, Dan Bloom, Bud Feder, Carl Hodges, and Ruth Ronall. In these sessions, both Fritz and Laura used some variation of the "hot seat" method, in which the leader essentially works with one individual in front of an audience with little or no attention to group dynamics. In reaction to this omission emerged a more interactive approach in which Gestalt-therapy principles were blended with group dynamics; in 1980, the book "Beyond the Hot Seat", edited by Feder and Ronall, was published, with contributions from members of both the New York and Cleveland Institutes, as well as others.


title: Gestalt therapy

text: Fritz left Laura and New York in 1960, briefly lived in Miami, and ended up in California. Jim Simkin was a psychotherapist who became a client of Perls in New York and then a co-therapist with Perls in Los Angeles. Simkin was responsible for Perls's going to California, where Perls began a psychotherapy practice. Ultimately, the life of a peripatetic trainer and workshop leader was better suited to Fritz's personality—starting in 1963, Simkin and Perls co-led some of the early Gestalt workshops and training groups at Esalen Institute in Big Sur, California, where Perls eventually settled and built a home. Jim Simkin then purchased property next to Esalen and started his own training center, which he ran until his death in 1984. Simkin refined his precise version of Gestalt therapy, training psychologists, psychiatrists, counselors and social workers within a very rigorous, residential training model.


title: Gestalt therapy

text: In the 1960s, Perls became infamous among the professional elite for his public workshops at Esalen Institute. Isadore From referred to some of Fritz's brief workshops as "hit-and-run" therapy, because of Perls's alleged emphasis on showmanship with little or no follow-through—but Perls never considered these workshops to be complete therapy; rather, he felt he was giving "demonstrations of key points" for a largely professional audience. Unfortunately, some films and tapes of his work were all that most graduate students were exposed to, along with the misperception that these represented the entirety of Perls's work.


title: Gestalt therapy

text: When Fritz Perls left New York for California, there began to be a split with those who saw Gestalt therapy as a therapeutic approach similar to psychoanalysis. This view was represented by Isadore From, who practiced and taught mainly in New York, as well as by the members of the Cleveland Institute, which was co-founded by From. An entirely different approach was taken, primarily in California, by those who saw Gestalt therapy not just as a therapeutic modality, but as a way of life. The East Coast, New York–Cleveland axis was often appalled by the notion of Gestalt therapy leaving the consulting room and becoming a way of life on the West Coast in the 1960s (see the "Gestalt prayer").


title: Gestalt therapy

text: An alternative view of this split saw Perls in his last years continuing to develop his a-theoretical and phenomenological methodology, while others, inspired by From, were inclined to theoretical rigor which verged on replacing experience with ideas.


title: Gestalt therapy

text: The split continues between what has been called "East Coast Gestalt" and "West Coast Gestalt," at least from an Amerocentric point of view. While the communitarian form of Gestalt continues to flourish, Gestalt therapy was largely replaced in the United States by Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, and many Gestalt therapists in the U.S. drifted toward organizational management and coaching. At the same time, contemporary Gestalt Practice (to a large extent based upon Gestalt therapy theory and practice) was developed by Dick Price, the co-founder of Esalen Institute. Price was one of Perls's students at Esalen.


title: Gestalt therapy

text: In 1969, Fritz Perls left the United States to start a Gestalt community at Lake Cowichan on Vancouver Island, Canada. He died almost one year later, on 14 March 1970, in Chicago. One member of the Gestalt community was Barry Stevens. Her book about that phase of her life, "Don't Push the River", became very popular. She developed her own form of Gestalt therapy body work, which is essentially a concentration on the awareness of body processes.


title: Gestalt therapy

text: Erving and Miriam Polster started a training center in La Jolla, California, and published a book, "Gestalt Therapy Integrated", in the 1970s.


title: Gestalt therapy

text: The Polsters played an influential role in advancing the concept of contact-boundary phenomena. The standard contact-boundary resistances in Gestalt theory were "confluence", "introjection", "projection" and "retroflection". A disturbance described by Miriam and Erving Polster was "deflection", which referred to a means of avoiding contact. Instances of boundary phenomena can have pathological or non-pathological aspects; for example, it is appropriate for an infant and mother to merge, or become "confluent," but inappropriate for a client and therapist to do so. If the latter do become confluent, there can be no growth, because there is no boundary at which one can contact the other: the client will not be able to learn anything new, because the therapist essentially becomes an extension of the client.


title: Gestalt therapy

text: There were a variety of psychological and philosophical influences upon the development of Gestalt therapy, not the least of which were the social forces at the time and place of its inception. Gestalt therapy is an approach that is holistic (including mind, body, and culture). It is present-centered and related to existential therapy in its emphasis on personal responsibility for action, and on the value of "I–thou" relationship in therapy. In fact, Perls considered calling Gestalt therapy "existential-phenomenological therapy". "The I and thou in the Here and Now" was a semi-humorous shorthand mantra for Gestalt therapy, referring to the substantial influence of the work of Martin Buber—in particular his notion of the I–Thou relationship—on Perls and Gestalt. Buber's work emphasized immediacy, and required that any method or theory answer to the therapeutic situation, seen as a meeting between two people. Any process or method that turns the patient into an object (the I–It) must be strictly secondary to the intimate, and spontaneous, I–Thou relation. This concept became important in much of Gestalt theory and practice.


title: Gestalt therapy

text: Both Fritz and Laura Perls were students and admirers of the neuropsychiatrist Kurt Goldstein. Gestalt therapy was based in part on Goldstein's concept called "Organismic theory". Goldstein viewed a person in terms of a holistic and unified experience; he encouraged a "big picture" perspective, taking into account the whole context of a person's experience. The word "Gestalt" means whole, or configuration. Laura Perls, in an interview, denotes the Organismic theory as the base of Gestalt therapy.


title: Gestalt therapy

text: There were additional influences on Gestalt therapy from existentialism, particularly the emphasis upon personal choice and responsibility.


title: Gestalt therapy

text: The late 1950s–1960s movement toward personal growth and the human potential movement in California fed into, and was itself influenced by, Gestalt therapy. In this process Gestalt therapy somehow became a "coherent Gestalt", which is the Gestalt psychology term for a perceptual unit that holds together and forms a unified whole.


title: Gestalt therapy

text: Fritz Perls trained as a neurologist at major medical institutions and as a Freudian psychoanalyst in Berlin and Vienna, the most important international centers of the discipline in his day. He worked as a training analyst for several years with the official recognition of the International Psychoanalytic Association (IPA), and must be considered an experienced clinician.


title: Gestalt therapy

text: Gestalt therapy was influenced by psychoanalysis: it was part of a continuum moving from the early work of Freud, to the later Freudian ego analysis, to Wilhelm Reich and his character analysis and notion of character armor, with attention to nonverbal behavior; this was consonant with Laura Perls's background in dance and movement therapy. To this was added the insights of academic Gestalt psychology, including "perception", "Gestalt formation", and the tendency of organisms to "complete an incomplete Gestalt" and to form "wholes" in experience.


title: Gestalt therapy

text: Central to Fritz and Laura Perls's modifications of psychoanalysis was the concept of "dental" or "oral aggression". In "Ego, Hunger and Aggression" (1947), Fritz Perls's first book, to which Laura Perls contributed (ultimately without recognition), Perls suggested that when the infant develops teeth, he or she has the capacity to chew, to break food apart, and, by analogy, to "experience", "taste", "accept", "reject", or "assimilate". This was opposed to Freud's notion that only introjection takes place in early experience. Thus Perls made assimilation, as opposed to introjection, a focal theme in his work, and the prime means by which growth occurs in therapy.


title: Gestalt therapy

text: In contrast to the psychoanalytic stance, in which the "patient" introjects the (presumably more healthy) interpretations of the analyst, in Gestalt therapy the client must "taste" his or her own experience and either accept or reject it—but "not" introject or "swallow whole." Hence, the emphasis is on avoiding interpretation, and instead encouraging discovery. This is the key point in the divergence of Gestalt therapy from traditional psychoanalysis: growth occurs through gradual assimilation of experience in a natural way, rather than by accepting the interpretations of the analyst; thus, the therapist should not "interpret", but lead the client to "discover" for him- or herself.


title: Gestalt therapy

text: The Gestalt therapist contrives experiments that lead the client to greater awareness and fuller experience of his or her possibilities. Experiments can be focused on undoing projections or retroflections. The therapist can work to help the client with closure of unfinished Gestalts ("unfinished business" such as unexpressed emotions towards somebody in the client's life). There are many kinds of experiments that might be therapeutic, but the essence of the work is that it is experiential rather than interpretive, and in this way, Gestalt therapy distinguishes itself from psychoanalysis.


title: Gestalt therapy

text: Gestalt therapy reached a zenith in the United States in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Since then, it has influenced other fields like organizational development, coaching, and teaching. Many of its contributions have become assimilated into other schools of therapy. In recent years, it has seen a resurgence in popularity as an active, psychodynamic form of therapy which has also incorporated some elements of recent developments in attachment theory. There are, for example, four Gestalt training institutes in the New York City metropolitan area alone, not to mention dozens of others worldwide.


title: Gestalt therapy

text: Gestalt therapy continues to thrive as a widespread form of psychotherapy, especially throughout Europe, where there are many practitioners and training institutions. Dan Rosenblatt led Gestalt therapy training groups and public workshops at the Tokyo Psychotherapy Academy for seven years. Stewart Kiritz continued in this role from 1997 to 2006.


title: Gestalt therapy

text: Many Gestalt therapy training organizations exist worldwide. Ansel Woldt asserted that Gestalt teaching and training are built upon the belief that people are, by nature, health-seeking. Thus, such commitments as authenticity, optimism, holism, health, and trust become important principles to consider when engaged in the activity of teaching and learning—especially Gestalt therapy theory and practice.


title: Gestalt therapy

text: The Association for the Advancement of Gestalt Therapy holds a biennial international conference in various locations—the first was in New Orleans, in 1995. Subsequent conferences have been held in San Francisco, Cleveland, New York, Dallas, St. Pete's Beach, Vancouver (British Columbia), Manchester (England), and Philadelphia. In addition, the it holds regional conferences, and its regional network has spawned regional conferences in Amsterdam, the Southwest and the Southeast of the United States, England, and Australia. Its Research Task Force generates and nurtures active research projects and an international conference on research.


title: Gestalt therapy

text: The European Association for Gestalt Therapy, founded in 1985 to gather European individual Gestalt therapists, training institutes, and national associations from more than twenty European nations.


title: Gestalt therapy

text: Gestalt Australia and New Zealand was formally established at the first Gestalt Therapy Conference held in Perth in September 1998.


title: Oxygen saturation (medicine)

text: Oxygen saturation is the fraction of oxygen-saturated hemoglobin relative to total hemoglobin (unsaturated + saturated) in the blood. The human body requires and regulates a very precise and specific balance of oxygen in the blood. Normal arterial blood oxygen saturation levels in humans are 97–100 percent. If the level is below 90 percent, it is considered low and called hypoxemia. Arterial blood oxygen levels below 80 percent may compromise organ function, such as the brain and heart, and should be promptly addressed. Continued low oxygen levels may lead to respiratory or cardiac arrest. Oxygen therapy may be used to assist in raising blood oxygen levels. Oxygenation occurs when oxygen molecules () enter the tissues of the body. For example, blood is oxygenated in the lungs, where oxygen molecules travel from the air and into the blood. Oxygenation is commonly used to refer to medical oxygen saturation.


title: Oxygen saturation (medicine)

text: In medicine, oxygen saturation, commonly referred to as "sats", measures the percentage of hemoglobin binding sites in the bloodstream occupied by oxygen. At low partial pressures of oxygen, most hemoglobin is deoxygenated. At around 90% (the value varies according to the clinical context) oxygen saturation increases according to an oxygen-hemoglobin dissociation curve and approaches 100% at partial oxygen pressures of >11 kPa. A pulse oximeter relies on the light absorption characteristics of saturated hemoglobin to give an indication of oxygen saturation.


title: Oxygen saturation (medicine)

text: The body maintains a stable level of oxygen saturation for the most part by chemical processes of aerobic metabolism associated with breathing. Using the respiratory system, red blood cells, specifically the hemoglobin, gather oxygen in the lungs and distribute it to the rest of the body. The needs of the body's blood oxygen may fluctuate such as during exercise when more oxygen is required or when living at higher altitudes. A blood cell is said to be "saturated" when carrying a normal amount of oxygen. Both too high and too low levels can have adverse effects on the body.


title: Oxygen saturation (medicine)

text: An SaO (arterial oxygen saturation, as determined by an arterial blood gas test) value below 90% indicates hypoxemia (which can also be caused by anemia). Hypoxemia due to low SaO is indicated by cyanosis. Oxygen saturation can be measured in different tissues:


title: Ammonium

text: The ammonium cation is a positively-charged polyatomic ion with the chemical formula or . It is formed by the protonation of ammonia (). Ammonium is also a general name for positively charged or protonated substituted amines and quaternary ammonium cations (), where one or more hydrogen atoms are replaced by organic groups (indicated by R).


title: Ammonium

text: The ammonium ion is mildly acidic, reacting with Brønsted bases to return to the uncharged ammonia molecule:


title: Ammonium

text: Thus, treatment of concentrated solutions of ammonium salts with strong base gives ammonia. When ammonia is dissolved in water, a tiny amount of it converts to ammonium ions:


title: Ammonium

text: The degree to which ammonia forms the ammonium ion depends on the pH of the solution. If the pH is low, the equilibrium shifts to the right: more ammonia molecules are converted into ammonium ions. If the pH is high (the concentration of hydrogen ions is low and hydroxide ions is high), the equilibrium shifts to the left: the hydroxide ion abstracts a proton from the ammonium ion, generating ammonia.


title: Ammonium

text: Formation of ammonium compounds can also occur in the vapor phase; for example, when ammonia vapor comes in contact with hydrogen chloride vapor, a white cloud of ammonium chloride forms, which eventually settles out as a solid in a thin white layer on surfaces.


title: Ammonium

text: Ammonium cation is found in a variety of salts such as ammonium carbonate, ammonium chloride and ammonium nitrate. Most simple ammonium salts are very soluble in water. An exception is ammonium hexachloroplatinate, the formation of which was once used as a test for ammonium. The ammonium salts of nitrate and especially perchlorate are highly explosive, in these cases ammonium is the reducing agent.


title: Ammonium

text: In an unusual process, ammonium ions form an amalgam. Such species are prepared by the addition of sodium amalgam to a solution of ammonium chloride. This amalgam eventually decomposes to release ammonia and hydrogen.


title: Ammonium

text: To find whether the ammonium ion is present in the salt, first the salt is heated in presence of alkali hydroxide releasing a gas with characteristic smell which of course is ammonia.


title: Ammonium

text: To further confirm ammonia it passed through glass rod dipped in HCl solution (hydrochloric acid) creating white dense fumes of ammonium chloride.


title: Ammonium

text: Ammonia when passed through (copper(II) sulphate) solution turns from blue to deep blue color forming Schweizer's reagent.


title: Ammonium

text: Ammonia or ammonium ion when added to Nessler's reagent gives brown color precipitate known as iodide of Million's base in basic medium.


title: Ammonium

text: The lone electron pair on the nitrogen atom (N) in ammonia, represented as a line above the N, forms the bond with a proton (). Thereafter, all four N–H bonds are equivalent, being polar covalent bonds. The ion has a tetrahedral structure and is isoelectronic with methane and the borohydride anion. In terms of size, the ammonium cation ("r" = 175 pm) resembles the caesium cation ("r" = 183 pm).


title: Ammonium

text: The hydrogen atoms in the ammonium ion can be substituted with an alkyl group or some other organic group to form a substituted ammonium ion (IUPAC nomenclature: aminium ion). Depending on the number of organic groups, the ammonium cation is called a "primary", "secondary", "tertiary", or "quaternary". With the exception of the quaternary ammonium cations, the organic ammonium cations are weak acids.


title: Ammonium

text: An example of a reaction forming an ammonium ion is that between dimethylamine, , and an acid to give the dimethylammonium cation, :


title: Ammonium

text: Quaternary ammonium cations have four organic groups attached to the nitrogen atom, they lack a hydrogen atom bonded to the nitrogen atom. These cations, such as the tetra-"n"-butylammonium cation, are sometimes used to replace sodium or potassium ions to increase the solubility of the associated anion in organic solvents. Primary, secondary, and tertiary ammonium salts serve the same function, but are less lipophilic. They are also used as phase-transfer catalysts and surfactants.


title: Ammonium

text: An unusual class of organic ammonium salts are derivatives of amine radical cations, such as tris(4-bromophenyl)ammoniumyl hexachloroantimonate.


title: Ammonium

text: Ammonium ions are a waste product of the metabolism of animals. In fish and aquatic invertebrates, it is excreted directly into the water. In mammals, sharks, and amphibians, it is converted in the urea cycle to urea, because urea is less toxic and can be stored more efficiently. In birds, reptiles, and terrestrial snails, metabolic ammonium is converted into uric acid, which is solid and can therefore be excreted with minimal water loss.


title: Ammonium

text: Ammonium is an important source of nitrogen for many plant species, especially those growing on hypoxic soils. However, it is also toxic to most crop species and is rarely applied as a sole nitrogen source.


title: Ammonium

text: The ammonium ion has very similar properties to the heavier alkali metals cations and is often considered a close equivalent. Ammonium is expected to behave as a metal ( ions in a sea of electrons) at very high pressures, such as inside gas giant planets such as Uranus and Neptune.


title: Ammonium

text: Under normal conditions, ammonium does not exist as a pure metal, but does as an amalgam (alloy with mercury).


title: Caucasus Emirate

text: The Caucasus Emirate (, IK; ), also known as the Caucasian Emirate, Emirate of Caucasus, or Islamic Emirate of the Caucasus, was a Jihadist organisation active in rebel-held parts of Syria and previously in the North Caucasus region of Russia. Its intention was to expel the Russian presence from the North Caucasus and to establish an independent Islamic emirate in the region. The "Caucasus Emirate" also referred to the state that the group sought to establish. The creation of Caucasus Emirate was announced on 7 October 2007, by Chechen warlord Dokka Umarov, who became its first self-declared "emir".


title: Caucasus Emirate

text: By late 2015, the group no longer had a visible presence in the North Caucasus, as most of its members defected to the local Islamic State affiliate, Vilayat Kavkaz.


title: Caucasus Emirate

text: Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Chechen nationalists, led by Dzhokhar Dudayev, declared the secession of Chechnya from Russia as an independent Chechen Republic of Ichkeria (ChRI). Following two devastating wars with the Russian Federation in the nineties, the ChRI fought an insurgency against the Russian forces and their Chechen allies from 2000, initially under the leadership of Aslan Maskhadov. Although the ChRI was largely founded by Sufi Muslims motivated by nationalism, over time the literalist Salafist form of Islam became increasingly popular with some Chechens, leading to a schism between nationalists and Salafists. As many of the original nationalist figures were killed by Russian forces, the insurgency took on an increasingly Salafist tone embodied by commanders like Shamil Basayev and the Arab fighter Khattab. Many of the surviving nationalists gave up the fight, and by the time Dokka Umarov was declared President of Ichkeria in June 2006, Islamists held increasing influence in the movement.


title: Caucasus Emirate

text: On 7 October 2007, President of Ichkeria Dokka Umarov abolished the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria and its presidency and proclaimed an Emirate in the Caucasus, declaring himself its Emir. The declaration of the Caucasus Emirate was quickly condemned by Akhmed Zakayev, Umarov's own minister of foreign affairs; Zakayev, who lives in exile in London, called upon all Chechen separatist fighters and politicians to pledge allegiance directly to his government in exile in an attempt to isolate Umarov from power. Zakayev also expressed regret that Umarov had caved in to pressure from "provocateurs" and committed a "crime" that undermines the legitimacy of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria. Umarov said that he did not need any sanction from the Majlis-ul-Shura (the council of rebel field commanders) or anybody else to declare the Emirate, as it is "his duty as a Muslim" to establish an Islamic state "as required by Sharia".


title: Caucasus Emirate

text: On 1 August 2010 Kavkaz Center, the official web site of the Emirate, distributed a video where Dokka Umarov indicated that he had stepped down from his position as Emir and appointed Aslambek Vadalov to become his successor. However, a few days later, on 3 August 2010, Umarov said he had no intention of stepping down and called the video announcing his resignation a fabrication. The announcements drove the emirate into a state of turmoil, with several key rebel leaders resigning their loyalty to Umarov. This combined with the death of Muhannad is believed to have paved the way for Hussein Gakayev, Aslambek Vadalov and Tarkhan Gaziyev to re-affirm their allegiance to Umarov. Umarov would die in September 2013 from food poisoning. Aliaskhab Kebekov was announced 6 months later as his successor.


title: Caucasus Emirate

text: In the period from 2010 to 2014, the number of casualties in the North Caucasus insurgency declined each year, with the overall death toll falling by more than half. Reasons suggested for the decline include the deaths of high-ranking insurgency commanders, the increased targeting by security forces of the support infrastructure relied on by the insurgents, and an exodus of insurgents to other conflict zones.


title: Caucasus Emirate

text: Starting in November 2014, mid-level commanders of the Caucasus Emirate began publicly switching their allegiance from Emirate leader Aliaskhab Kebekov to the Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, following al-Baghdadi and his group's declaration of a caliphate earlier in the year. By February 2015, many commanders of the Emirate's Vilayat Nokhchicho and Vilayat Dagestan had defected. Loyalists within the Emirate released statements denouncing them, and accused the most senior defector, Rustam Asildarov, of betrayal. Vilayat Nokhchicho leader Aslan Byutukayev pledged allegiance to al-Baghdadi in June 2015, and an audio statement was released in the same month purportedly pledging allegiance on behalf of militants in Dagestan, Chechnya, Ingushetia and Kabardino-Balkaria. On 23 June 2015, IS's spokesman Abu Mohammad al-Adnani accepted these pledges and announced the creation of a Caucasus Province, a new branch operating in the North Caucasus region. Adnani named Asildarov as its leader and called on other militants in the region to follow him.


title: Caucasus Emirate

text: The Caucasus Emirate continued to operate independently, but suffered further high-profile losses, including the killing by Russian security forces of Kebekov in April 2015, and his successor Magomed Suleimanov several months later. By late 2015, the militants still operating in Russia's North Caucasus Republics had largely unified under IS's Caucasus Province.


title: Caucasus Emirate

text: In August 2008 Movladi Udugov, an ideologue and a spokesman for the Caucasus Emirate, said that "as Dokka Umarov very accurately observed, this Islamic state does not yet have any borders. It’s not correct to say that we want to build some sort of enclave on the territory of these North Caucasus republics. No, today many Muslims living in Tatarstan, Bashkortostan, Buryatia, Russians from the most widely differing regions of Russia who have accepted Islam, swear an oath of allegiance to Dokka Umarov as the legitimate leader of the Muslims. And wherever he is – in Moscow, Blagoveshchensk, Tyumen – when a Muslim swears that oath, he becomes a fighting unit. Just because these people are not visible in their cities just now and are not active, that doesn’t mean that they won’t become active in the future."


title: Caucasus Emirate

text: In a May 2011 interview posted on the pro Caucasus Emirate Kavkaz Center website, Umarov stated "Now we know that we should not secede, but must unite with our brothers in faith. We must recapture Astrakhan, Idel-Ural, Siberia and indigenous Muslim lands."


title: Caucasus Emirate

text: Professor Gordon M. Hahn of the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, described the Caucasus Emirate to be a decentralized organisation, but structured hierarchically with Emir Dokku Umarov appointing the Emirs of each Vilayat or Province, who in turn swear him a bay'at or oath of allegiance. Each vilayat contains multiple Fronts or Sectors, which in turn contain multiple Jamaats or units. The vilayats, sectors and local jamaats independently raise funds, recruit members and carry out operations, while following the overall strategy as set by the Emirate's leadership.


title: Caucasus Emirate

text: In May 2009, Umarov established a ruling consultative body, or Majlis al Shura, for the Caucasus Emirate consisting of his top commanders. At the time of the announcement, the positions and the individuals holding them were:


title: Caucasus Emirate

text: The Caucasus Emirate maintains a Supreme Sharia Court, which is headed by a Qadi. This position has been held by Anzor Astemirov (killed in March 2010), Magomed Vagabov (killed August 2010), and Aliaskhab Kebekov (killed in April 2015).


title: Caucasus Emirate

text: In early 2009, Dokka Umarov announced the revival of the shahid suicide attackers unit Riyad-us Saliheen Brigade of Martyrs, which has been led by Said Buryatsky (killed March 2010) and Aslan Byutukayev.


title: Caucasus Emirate

text: Umarov died due to food poisoning on 7 September 2013. He was succeeded by Aliaskhab Kebekov (killed April 2015) and Magomed Suleymanov (killed August 2015).


title: Caucasus Emirate

text: Caucasus Emirate receives significant funds from overseas Islamic terrorist organizations, but the primary source of funding for the Caucasus Emirate is a wide range of criminal activity. Militants extort money from local businessmen and residents in their areas of operation under the premise of a religious tax. Russian media reports in early 2011 claimed that militants extorted a 20 per cent "jihad" tax from prominent figures considered to be pro-government. In addition to extortion, Russian officials have alleged that Caucasus Emirate militants also derive funds from involvement in drug trafficking and robbery.


title: Caucasus Emirate

text: In the same October 2007 statement in which Umarov proclaimed the Caucasian Emirate, he also described the United States, Great Britain and Israel as common enemies of Muslims worldwide. However, on November 20, 2007, Anzor Astemirov, then head of the Vilayet KBK, said that "Even if we wanted to threaten America and Europe every day, it is clear for anybody who understands politics that we do not have any real clashes of interests [with the West]. The people in the White House know very well that we have nothing to do with America at the moment." In his statement, Astemirov not only described the Caucasian rebels' threats against the West as empty, but also even asked the United States for assistance in their fight against "Russian aggression". Following its criticism, many rebel websites removed the phrase that regarded Western countries as enemies.


title: Caucasus Emirate

text: On August 9, 2008, in response to the conflict between Georgia and Russia, Movladi Udugov stated that "for the time being neither Tbilisi nor Washington has appealed to us with any requests or offers" to fight alongside Georgian forces against the Russian forces. Udugov also noted: "But I clearly can say that the command of the Caucasus Emirate is following with great interest the development of the situation."


title: Caucasus Emirate

text: A number of Chechen and other North Caucasian volunteers travelled to fight in the Syrian Civil War against the government of Bashar al-Assad. Dokku Umarov released a video in November 2012 expressing support for all those trying to install Sharia law in Syria, but rebuked those who had weakened the Jihad in the North Caucasus by leaving to fight there. However, as the war went on and North Caucasians took an increasingly prominent role in the fighting owing to their combat experience, those who went to fight in Syria were viewed increasingly positively by the Emirate's websites and supporters.


title: Caucasus Emirate

text: In 2013, a Chechen known as Emir Salauddin was appointed as the official representative of the Caucasus Emirate in Syria. In December 2013, the Chechen-led Syrian jihadist group Jaish al-Muhajireen wal-Ansar (JMA) split away from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and appointed Salauddin as their new commander, emphasising that they wished to continue respecting the Oath of Allegiance they had made to the Caucasus Emirate's Dokku Umarov. Following his appointment as the Emirates new leader, Aliaskhab Kebekov advised the North Caucasians in Syria to remain independent rather than align with other groups. He also voiced support for Al-Qaeda affiliated Al-Nusra Front and criticised Abu Omar al-Shishani, the Chechen commander who formerly led JMA before joining IS. In mid 2015, JMA suffered a leadership split, and Salauddin and those fighters loyal to him formed a smaller offshoot that reiterated their loyalty to the Caucasus Emirate.


title: Colson Whitehead

text: Arch Colson Chipp Whitehead (born November 6, 1969) is an American novelist. He is the author of eight novels, including his 1999 debut work "The Intuitionist"; "The Underground Railroad" (2016), for which he won the 2016 National Book Award for Fiction and the 2017 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction; he won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction again in 2020 for "The Nickel Boys". He has also published two books of non-fiction. In 2002, he received a MacArthur Genius Grant.


title: Colson Whitehead

text: Arch Colson Chipp Whitehead was born in New York City on November 6, 1969, and grew up in Manhattan. He is one of four children of successful entrepreneur parents who owned an executive recruiting firm. As a child in Manhattan, Whitehead went by his first name Arch. He later switched to Chipp, before switching to Colson. He attended Trinity School in Manhattan and graduated from Harvard University in 1991. In college, he became friends with poet Kevin Young.


title: Colson Whitehead

text: Early in his career, Whitehead lived in Fort Greene, Brooklyn. He lives in Manhattan and also owns a home in Sag Harbor on Long Island. His wife, Julie Barer, is a literary agent. They have two children.


title: Colson Whitehead

text: After graduating from college, Whitehead wrote for "The Village Voice". While working at the "Voice", he began drafting his first novels.


title: Colson Whitehead

text: Whitehead has since produced ten book-length works—eight novels and two non-fiction works, including a meditation on life in Manhattan in the style of E.B. White's famous essay "Here Is New York". His books are 1999's "The Intuitionist"; 2001's "John Henry Days"; 2003's "The Colossus of New York"; 2006's "Apex Hides the Hurt"; 2009's ""; 2011's "Zone One", a "New York Times" bestseller; 2016's "The Underground Railroad", which earned a National Book Award for Fiction; 2019's "The Nickel Boys"; and 2021's "Harlem Shuffle". "Esquire" magazine named "The Intuitionist" the best first novel of the year, and "GQ" called it one of the "novels of the millennium". Novelist John Updike, reviewing "The Intuitionist" in "The New Yorker", called Whitehead "ambitious", "scintillating", and "strikingly original", adding, "The young African-American writer to watch may well be a thirty-one-year-old Harvard graduate with the vivid name of Colson Whitehead."


title: Colson Whitehead

text: Whitehead's "The Intuitionist" was nominated as the Common Novel at Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT). The Common Novel nomination was part of a long-time tradition at the Institute that included authors like Maya Angelou, Andre Dubus III, William Joseph Kennedy, and Anthony Swofford.


title: Colson Whitehead

text: Whitehead's non-fiction, essays, and reviews have appeared in numerous publications, including "The New York Times", "The New Yorker", "Granta", and "Harper's".


title: Colson Whitehead

text: His non-fiction account of the 2011 World Series of Poker, "The Noble Hustle: Poker, Beef Jerky & Death", was published by Doubleday in 2014.


title: Colson Whitehead

text: Whitehead has taught at Princeton University, New York University, the University of Houston, Columbia University, Brooklyn College, Hunter College, and Wesleyan University. He has been a Writer-in-Residence at Vassar College, the University of Richmond, and the University of Wyoming.


title: Colson Whitehead

text: His 2016 novel, "The Underground Railroad", was a selection of Oprah's Book Club 2.0, and was chosen by President Barack Obama as one of five books on his summer vacation reading list. In January 2017 it was awarded the Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction at the American Library Association Mid-Winter Conference in Atlanta, GA. Colson was honored with the 2017 Hurston/Wright Award for fiction presented by the Zora Neale Hurston/Richard Wright Foundation. "The Underground Railroad" won the 2017 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. Judges of the prize called the novel "a smart melding of realism and allegory that combines the violence of slavery and the drama of escape in a myth that speaks to contemporary America".


title: Colson Whitehead

text: Whitehead's seventh novel, "The Nickel Boys", was published in July 2019. The novel was inspired by the real-life story of the Dozier School for Boys in Florida, where children convicted of minor offences suffered violent abuse. In conjunction with the publication of "The Nickel Boys", Whitehead was featured on the cover of "Time" magazine for the July 8, 2019, edition, alongside the strap-line "America's Storyteller". "The Nickel Boys" won the 2020 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. Judges of the prize called the novel "a spare and devastating exploration of abuse at a reform school in Jim Crow-era Florida that is ultimately a powerful tale of human perseverance, dignity and redemption". It was Whitehead's second win, making him the fourth writer in history to have won the prize twice.


title: Colson Whitehead

text: Whitehead's eighth novel, "Harlem Shuffle", was conceived and begun before he wrote "The Nickel Boys". It is a work of crime fiction set in Harlem during the 1960s. Whitehead spent years writing the novel, and ultimately finished it in "bite-sized chunks" during the months he spent in quarantine during the COVID-19 pandemic in New York City. "Harlem Shuffle" was published by Doubleday on September 14, 2021.


title: Varmaa

text: Varmaa is a 2020 Indian Tamil-language romantic drama film directed by Bala and produced by Mukesh Mehta of E4 Entertainment. A remake of the 2017 Telugu film "Arjun Reddy", directed by Sandeep Vanga, the film stars Dhruv Vikram and Megha Chowdhury, the latter in her Tamil debut. The film features music composed by Radhan, with M. Sukumar handling the cinematography and Sathish Suriya, taking in-charge of the editing.


title: Varmaa

text: Filmed between March and September 2018, its release was initially cancelled after E4 Entertainment was unsatisfied with the output and re-shot the remake in 2019 as "Adithya Varma" with a largely different cast and crew. Despite E4's initial refusal to release "Varmaa", the film was released on 6 October 2020 on over-the-top (OTT) platforms to negative reviews from critics.


title: Varmaa

text: Varmaa Vasudevan is a house surgeon. Despite being a brilliant student, he has severe anger management problems that earn the wrath of the college dean. Varmaa's aggressive nature also earns him a reputation among his juniors as a college bully. After a brawl alongside his friend Kamal against members of the opposing team during an inter-college football match, the dean asks Varmaa to either apologise or leave the college. Varmaa initially chooses to leave the college but stays back after meeting the first-year student Megha.


title: Varmaa

text: Varmaa and his friend Ashok enter a 1st-year classroom and announce that Varmaa is in love with Megha and asserts that she is exclusive to him. Initially afraid, Megha starts adjusting to Varmaa's overbearing attitude. She eventually reciprocates his feelings and they develop an intimate relationship. Varmaa graduates with an MBBS degree and leaves to pursue a Master's degree in orthopaedic surgery. Over the course of 15 days, Varmaa's and Megha's relationship becomes stronger. Days later, Varmaa visits Megha's house, where her father sees them kissing and throws Varmaa out.


title: Varmaa

text: Megha's father opposes her and Varmaa's relationship due to Varmaa's brash behaviour and also because they belong to different castes. Varmaa demands Megha decide within six hours otherwise he will end their relationship. Following this incident, Megha's parents seize her phone, preventing her from contacting Varma. By the time she manages to visit Varmaa's house, he is drunk, injects morphine into himself, and becomes unconscious for two days. Megha is then forcibly married to someone from her caste. Varmaa learns about the marriage from Ashok and goes to her house. He is assaulted and gets arrested for making a scene. Varmaa's father throws him out of the family home for ruining his reputation.


title: Varmaa

text: With Ashok's help, Varmaa rents a flat and joins a private hospital as a surgeon. To cope with his emotions, he starts taking drugs, attempts one-night stands, buys a pet dog, and names it after Megha and drinks alcohol; all of which are unsuccessful. Within months, he becomes a successful surgeon and a high-functioning alcoholic who is feared by the hospital's staff members, one of the reasons being his high surgery count. Varmaa's self-destructing behaviour and refusal to move on worries Ashok. He persuades one of his patients, Raiza Wilson, a leading film star, to have a no-strings relationship with him, which he ends when she falls in love with him.


title: Varmaa

text: On a day off, Varmaa unwillingly agrees to perform life-saving surgery and collapses from dehydration. The hospital staff examines his blood samples, which show traces of alcohol and cocaine. The hospital chief files a case against Varma, who accepts the truth on the grounds of violating his professional ethics during an in-house court hearing, despite Ashok making arrangements to bail him out. Varmaa's medical licence is cancelled for five years and he is evicted from the flat. The next morning, Ashok manages to reach Varmaa to convey his father's death; he and they reconcile. Varmaa gives up his self-destructive habits soon after.


title: Varmaa

text: While leaving for a vacation, Varmaa sees a pregnant Megha sitting in a park. Convinced that she is unhappy with her marriage, Varmaa meets her after returning from his vacation. Megha reveals that she left her husband days after their marriage and continued to work in a clinic. She tells Varmaa that he is the child's father, and they reunite.


title: Varmaa

text: In September 2017, it was announced that E4 Entertainment had bought the rights to remake the Telugu film "Arjun Reddy" (2017) in Tamil and Malayalam languages. The following month, Bala was chosen to direct the yet-untitled Tamil remake. On 10 November 2017, the title was announced as "Varma", although it would later be amended to "Varmaa". Raju Murugan was chosen to pen the dialogues. M. Sukumar was selected to handle the cinematography and Sathish Suriya was chosen as the film editor, after having earlier worked for Bala's "Naachiyaar" (2018). Producer Mukesh Mehta said the remake would be 20 minutes shorter than the Telugu original. Actor Vikram's son Dhruv Vikram was cast as the male lead, in what would have been his acting debut. It would have been the debut for the Kolkata-based model Megha, who was chosen to play the female lead. Akash Premkumar was chosen to play the lead character's best friend. Whereas other roles were given to Easwari Rao, Raiza Wilson, Sandra Amy and Mathew Varghese.


title: Varmaa

text: Principal photography began in early March 2018 at Kathmandu, Nepal, and a week later, after completing the first schedule there, the crew shifted to Chennai for the second schedule. However, shooting of the film was briefly stalled due to the Tamil Film Producers Council strike, but resumed in April after the strike ended. The final schedule of the film took place in August 2018, for which the team had shifted to Tiruvannamalai. It was completed in September 2018, thus principal photography of the film has wrapped.


title: Varmaa

text: On 7 February 2019, E4 issued a press statement stating that they would go for a complete reshoot as they were not satisfied with the final cut provided by Bala. Bala's version of the film contained deviations from "Arjun Reddy", which resulted in the conflict. Changes included the absence of many characters from "Arjun Reddy", including the male lead's grandmother. "Varmaa" was also two hours long while the original was three. In their press statement, E4 added that the film would be relaunched with a completely new cast and crew while retaining Dhruv. In a separate press statement, Bala decried E4's comments, saying it was his own decision to quit the film "in order to safeguard creative freedom" because he was asked to make changes. This became the first such incident in Tamil cinema that the producer of the film refuses to release the film due to unsatisfactory final cut despite the completion of the film. The new version, directed by Gireesaaya, was titled "Adithya Varma", and did not retain any scene shot by Bala for "Varmaa".


title: Varmaa

text: The soundtrack for the film was composed by Radhan who signed the project in July 2018. The song "Vaanodum Mannodum", written by Vairamuthu and sung by Vignesh G., was released on 27 December 2018 as a single, but was not included on "Adithya Varma".


title: Varmaa

text: The teaser for "Varmaa" was released on 23 September 2018. It was widely ridiculed and criticised on social media, while a critic from "The New Indian Express" called it "a failed attempt to remake the original". The teaser received five million views within fifty hours of release. The trailer was released on 9 January 2019.


title: Varmaa

text: When "Varmaa" was scheduled for a theatrical release in January 2019, Shakthi Film Factory acquired the Tamil Nadu distribution rights. Despite E4's initial refusal to release it, after more than a year of deadlock, the film was released on 6 October 2020 on over-the-top (OTT) platforms. It was released on Simply South and Tentkotta internationally, and within India on The Ally, Shreyas ET and ShemarooMe. The decision to release an alternate version of a film was compared to the announcement of "Zack Snyder's Justice League", a director's cut of "Justice League" (2017).


title: Varmaa

text: "Varmaa" received generally negative reviews from critics, many of whom compared it unfavourably to "Adithya Varma". M. Suganth of "The Times of India" rated the film 2 stars out of 5, saying, "Instead of feeling new age-y, "Varmaa" comes across as old-fashioned and even crass at times. It gets "Arjun Reddy" all wrong." Suganth also felt many of the actors like Chowdhury were miscast and criticised the lack of onscreen chemistry between her and Dhruv. He concluded that Dhruv looks "sure-footed in some scenes and like a novice in some". Baradwaj Rangan of "Film Companion" wrote, "Not a single frame is distinctive, or shows that a major filmmaker is behind the camera. You get the feeling Bala was forced to direct this with his hands tied." Ranjani Krishnakumar of "Firstpost" wrote, ""Varmaa" is not rooted anywhere. The milieu does nothing for the film. Varma’s pain, which is what made "Arjun Reddy" intense, is heavily diluted. In fact, for the most part, he is just your average alcoholic, only too pampered."


title: Varmaa

text: Manoj Kumar R of "The Indian Express" wrote, "After watching "Varmaa", I could see why the producer thought it was not a good idea to release it in theaters. Bala's interpretation of Sandeep Vanga's material strips the larger-than-life aura around the self-indulgent, inconsiderate, alcoholic and self-destructive protagonist." However, he concluded that the film "is a unique, honest and bold interpretation of a character that we all love despite the breathtaking level of faultiness." Srivatsan S. of "The Hindu" wrote that "But the Bala Cut, as it would come to be known, is surprisingly cold and lifeless — even by the standards set by "Adithya Varma" — and edits out the dramatic bits of the Telugu original, only limiting to its plot points" and stated that the film was a "reinterpretation to his own "Sethu"". Sudhir Srinivasan of "Cinema Express" gave the film a rating of one-and-a-half out of five stars and noted that "What would the Bala of today change about/add to this story that’s been told so many times now that you can predict its every beat? Well, it turns out that he hasn’t. He has settled to giving us a jaded, curtailed version instead".


title: Sterling Knight

text: Sterling Sandmann Knight (born March 5, 1989) is an American actor, singer, and dancer. He is known for his role as Chad Dylan Cooper in the Disney Channel sitcom "Sonny with a Chance" and its spinoff "So Random!", Zander Carlson in "Melissa & Joey", and Christopher Wilde in the Disney Channel Original Movie "Starstruck".


title: Sterling Knight

text: Knight was born in Houston, Texas . He has a sister, Samantha Scarlett, and a brother, Spencer Shuga.


title: Sterling Knight

text: Knight began his career on stage in local productions. He made his acting debut in minor roles in "Calm", "Career Day", and "Hi-Jinks". Knight's first role with Disney was in an episode of "Hannah Montana", playing Lilly’s boyfriend Lucas, in 2007. Later in the year, Knight also appeared in two episodes of "The Closer". In 2008, Knight appeared in "Out of Jimmy's Head" and "Grey's Anatomy". In 2009, Knight played the role of Chad Dylan Cooper, an egotistical and self-centered cast member of "Mackenzie Falls" and self-proclaimed Hollywood legend in "Sonny with a Chance". Knight made his film debut in "17 Again" playing Alex O'Donnell, Matthew Perry/Zac Efron's son who was abused by his sister's boyfriend.


title: Sterling Knight

text: In 2010, Knight played teen heart-throb Christopher Wilde in the Disney Channel Original Movie(DCOM) "Starstruck". According to comments made by Knight on Twitter, because he joined the cast so late, he only sang one song on the soundtrack, the opening song. His character's remaining songs were sung by Drew Ryan Scott. Knight's next project was the movie "" with Ashlee Hewitt. He plays Ty Parker, a singer/songwriter who's looking for a change in his music and then finds a girl recording in a studio and when she leaves him he goes on a journey to find her. The movie was released in April 2010.


title: Sterling Knight

text: In 2011, Knight returned to be in the "Sonny with a Chance" spinoff sketch comedy series "So Random!". His recurring characters on "So Random!" included Possibly Sarcastic Skip, Dwayne Platowski, and Jimmy Sparrow and his impressions included Ralph Fiennes (as Lord Voldemort), Lucas Cruikshank (as Fred), Taylor Lautner (as Jacob Black), and Justin Bieber. The show was cancelled after one season.


title: Sterling Knight

text: In 2012, Knight starred as Shane Seedwell in the action thriller film "Transit" co-starring Jim Caviezel and Elisabeth Rohm. As of 2013 he is appearing as a guest star on "Melissa & Joey" as Lennox's boyfriend and later fiancé Zander. Knight returned for the 4th and final season in 2014. In 2014, he starred as Billy in "The Hotwives of Orlando", a Hulu original series.


title: Sterling Knight

text: In 2015, Knight starred as Chris in the action crime drama film "Landmine Goes Click". In 2016, Knight guest-starred in two episodes of NBC series "Crowded", where he played the love interest of Miranda Cosgrove's character. In 2017, he starred as Cameron Fullbright in the go90 comedy series "In the Rough". He had a supporting role in the movie "Different Flowers." He played the role of Philip in the sci-fi drama "."


title: Tom Harmon

text: Thomas Dudley Harmon (September 28, 1919 – March 15, 1990), known as Tom Harmon, as well as by the nickname "Old 98", was an American football player, military pilot, actor, and sports broadcaster.


title: Tom Harmon

text: Harmon grew up in Gary, Indiana, and played college football at the halfback position for the University of Michigan from 1938 to 1940. He led the nation in scoring and was a consensus All-American in both 1939 and 1940 and won the Heisman Trophy, the Maxwell Award, and the Associated Press Athlete of the Year award in 1940. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1954.


title: Tom Harmon

text: During World War II, Harmon served as a pilot in the U.S. Army Air Forces. In April 1943, he was the sole survivor of the crash of a bomber he piloted in South America en route to North Africa. Six months later, while flying a P-38 Lightning, he was shot down in a dogfight with Japanese Zeros near Kiukiang in China.


title: Tom Harmon

text: After the war, Harmon played two seasons of professional football for the Los Angeles Rams and had the longest run from scrimmage during the 1946 NFL season. He later pursued a career in sports broadcasting and was the play-by-play announcer for the first televised Rose Bowl in the late 1940s and worked for CBS from 1950 to 1962. He later hosted a 10-minute daily sports show on the ABC radio network in the 1960s and worked as the sports anchor on the KTLA nightly news from 1958 to 1964. He also handled play-by-play responsibility on broadcasts of UCLA football games in the 1960s and 1970s.


title: Tom Harmon

text: Harmon was born in Rensselaer, Indiana, at the family home at 118 South Weston Street, the son of Illinois natives Rose Marie (née Quinn) and Louis A. Harmon (1873–1948), a real estate agent. Harmon had five older siblings, Louella, Harold, Mary, Louis, and Eugene, all born in Indiana. His maternal grandparents were Irish, while his father was of French, German, and Irish descent.


title: Tom Harmon

text: In 1924, the family moved to Gary, Indiana. At the time of the 1930 U.S. Census, the family was living at 578 Van Buren in Gary, where Harmon's father was employed as a real estate salesman, and his mother was employed as a clerk for the Census Bureau.


title: Tom Harmon

text: Harmon's three older brothers all excelled in athletics before him: Harold was a track star at Purdue University, Louis played basketball at Purdue, and Eugene was the captain of Tulane University's basketball team.


title: Tom Harmon

text: Harmon attended Horace Mann High School in Gary, graduating in 1937. He received 14 varsity letters in 10 sports at Horace Mann. He won the Indiana state championship both in the 100-yard dash and 220-yard low hurdles and won the national interscholastic scoring championship in football with 150 points. He ran the 100-yard dash in 9.9 seconds (half a second slower than Jesse Owens' world record) and 220-yard low hurdles in 22.6 seconds. He was also a star basketball player and threw two no-hitters as a pitcher in AAU baseball. Michigan athletic director Fielding H. Yost in 1937 proclaimed Harmon "the greatest high school athlete of the year".