title: Landing Craft Air Cushion

text: The craft operates with a crew of five. In addition to beach landing, LCAC provides personnel transport, evacuation support, lane breaching, mine countermeasure operations, and Marine and Special Warfare equipment delivery. The four main engines are all used for lift and all used for main propulsion. The craft can continue to operate, at reduced capability, with two engines inoperable. They are interchangeable for redundancy. A transport model can seat 180 fully equipped troops.


title: Landing Craft Air Cushion

text: The LCAC's cargo capacity is . The LCAC is capable of carrying a 60 short-ton payload (up to 75 tons in an overload condition), including one M-1 Abrams tank, at speeds over 40 knots. Fuel capacity is 5000 gallons. The LCAC uses an average of 1000 gallons per hour.


title: Landing Craft Air Cushion

text: Maneuvering considerations include requiring 500 yards or more to stop and 2000 yards or more turning radius. The bow ramp is wide while the stern ramp is wide. Noise and dust levels are high with this craft. If disabled the craft is difficult to tow. In recent years spray suppression has been added to the craft's skirt to reduce interference with driver's vision.


title: Landing Craft Air Cushion

text: In Fiscal Year 2000 the Navy started an LCAC Service Life Extension Program (SLEP) to add 10 years of design life to each craft. The SLEP will be applied to 72 LCACs, extending their service life from 20 to 30 years.


title: Landing Craft Air Cushion

text: Phase I. Replacing electronics components with readily available cmmercial Off-The-Shelf (COTS) components. The new electronics suite will be more reliable and less costly to operate and maintain.


title: Landing Craft Air Cushion

text: Phase II. Buoyancy box replacement at the Textron Marine and Land Systems facility in New Orleans, LA, to increase the LCACs resistance to corrosion. Phase II will also include the electronics upgrade of Phase I, until the entire active fleet is outfitted with the new configuration. The new buoyancy box will incorporate improvements to damage stability and trim control of the LCACs.


title: Landing Craft Air Cushion

text: NAVSEA transitioned from the research and development effort to the SLEP in 1999. Concurrently NAVSEA also considered additional SLEP options, including an enhanced engine to provide improved operation in excessively hot environments and an advanced skirt that is more reliable and cost effective.


title: Landing Craft Air Cushion

text: The Navy continued the LCAC Service Life Extension Program in Fiscal Year 2001. This program combines major structural improvements with Command, Control, Communications, Computer and Navigation upgrades and adds 10 years to the service life, extending it to 30 years. In FY 2001, it was funded at $19.9 million and extended the service life of 1 craft. The SLEP is planned for a total of 72 craft.


title: Landing Craft Air Cushion

text: The near-term focus will be on the "C4N" [Command, Control, Communications, Computers, and Navigation] program, to replace the crafts' obsolete equipment. This will focus on replacement of LN-66 radars with modern, high-power P-80 radar systems. Additionally, the SLEP will include an open-architecture concept, relying on modern commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) equipment, which will allow much easier incorporation of later technology changes, such as the precision navigation system and communications systems ¾ fully interoperable with in-service and near-term future Joint systems ¾ now planned. The C4N program is to complete by 2010.


title: Landing Craft Air Cushion

text: Through 2016, the Navy will look to incorporate other important service-life enhancements: Engine upgrades (ETF-40B configuration) that will provide additional power and lift particularly in hot (, and higher) environments, reduced fuel consumption, reduced maintenance needs, and reduced lift footprint; Replacement of the buoyancy box to solve corrosion problems, incorporate hull improvements, and "reset" the fatigue-limit "clock"; Incorporation of a new (deep) skirt that will reduce drag, increase performance envelope over water and land, and reduce maintenance requirements.


title: Landing Craft Air Cushion

text: As of September 2012, there were 80 LCACs in the U.S. Navy inventory; 39 LCACs had undergone the SLEP conversion and 7 were in progress and 4 are awaiting induction. The FY 2013 budget authorized 4 SLEP conversions per year through FY 2018. The last of the 72 SLEP conversions will be delivered to the Navy in FY 2020. After the first SLEP LCAC reached its 30 years design service age in 2015, it was to gradually be retired. In 2019, at which point the inventory of LCACs had fallen to 50, the USN began receiving the new Ship-to-Shore Connector (SSC), the LCAC-100.


title: Landing Craft Air Cushion

text: The USN inventory of LCACs was projected to fall until 2023 after which SSC replacements would increase it.


title: Landing Craft Air Cushion

text: Six LCAC are in use by the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force. Approval for the sale was given by the United States Government on 8 April 1994. The craft were built by Textron Marine & Land Systems in New Orleans, Louisiana. Purchase of the first craft was included in the FY93 budget, second in FY95, third and fourth in FY99 and fifth and sixth in FY00.


title: Will Chase

text: Frank William Chase (born September 12, 1970) is a Tony Award-nominated American actor, director, and singer, best known for his work on Broadway and for his role as country superstar Luke Wheeler on ABC's "Nashville".


title: Will Chase

text: Chase was born in Frankfort, Kentucky, and is the youngest of three boys. He graduated from Western Hills High School and the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, where he studied conducting with Robert Spano and percussion with Michael Rosen.


title: Will Chase

text: Chase started his acting career in Chicago, performing in regional theater productions and received three Joseph Jefferson Award nominations. He then played Chris in the 2nd National Tour of "Miss Saigon". He first performed on Broadway in 1998 as the Squeegee Man and Roger understudy in "Rent" in the role originated by Adam Pascal; he also starred as the last Roger in the final Broadway company of "Rent", which was recorded for the theatrical release entitled "". His additional Broadway credits include "Miss Saigon" (with the original star Lea Salonga playing Kim to close the Broadway production); "The Full Monty", as Jerry Lukowski replacement (2001); "Lennon" (2005); "Aida" (Radames replacement, 2003–04), another role originated by Pascal; and Tony in "Billy Elliot the Musical". He was also in "A Little Princess the Musical" as Captain Crewe. In 2005, he played Neville Craven in the 2005 World AIDS Day "The Secret Garden" concert.


title: Will Chase

text: In 2006, he starred in "High Fidelity" on Broadway, and starred as Valentin in "Kiss of the Spider Woman" at the Signature Theatre in Arlington, Virginia, for which he received a nomination for the 2009 Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding Lead Actor.


title: Will Chase

text: He appeared in "The Pajama Game" opposite Kate Baldwin at The Muny (St. Louis) in July 2007. He starred in "Oklahoma" in 2007 at the Lyric Theatre opposite Kelli O'Hara, and on Broadway in the musical "The Story of My Life" in 2009. In August 2012, he temporarily filled in for Matthew Broderick as Jimmy Winter in the Broadway musical, "Nice Work If You Can Get It".


title: Will Chase

text: He was a nominee at the 2013 Tony Awards, nominated for Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical for his role as John Jasper / Mr. Clive Paget in the Broadway revival of "The Mystery of Edwin Drood".


title: Will Chase

text: Chase guest starred as Michael Swift in the NBC series "Smash". He then went on to play the role of country superstar Luke Wheeler on the television series "Nashville". His other television appearances include "Quantico", HBO's "The Deuce", the recurring role of Pat Mahoney on "Rescue Me", "Cupid", "Canterbury's Law", "Law & Order", "Third Watch", "Conviction", and "Queens Supreme", Hallmark's "The Lost Valentine", alongside Jennifer Love Hewitt and Betty White; the 2011 season finale of "Royal Pains" (USA); "Blue Bloods" (CBS); and the ABC drama "Pan Am". In 2012, he appeared on the series "White Collar", in the episode "Neighborhood Watch", and appeared on the series "Unforgettable", in the episode "The Comeback".


title: Will Chase

text: He played the title role in the 2013 film "Butterflies of Bill Baker". Chase voices Angee in "A Warrior's Tail" (2016).


title: Will Chase

text: Chase assumed the role of William Shakespeare from Christian Borle on Broadway in the musical "Something Rotten!" on July 18, 2016.


title: Will Chase

text: Chase played the character Byron Marks on the September 27, 2017 season opening of "Law and Order: SVU" titled "Gone Fishin".


title: Will Chase

text: He played Neil Hargrove in the second season of the American supernatural horror-science fiction web television series, "Stranger Things", which premiered on Netflix on October 27, 2017, and appears in HBO's drama "Sharp Objects" as Bob Nash.


title: Will Chase

text: He portrayed Fred Graham/Petruchio opposite Kelli O'Hara in the 2019 Broadway revival of "Kiss Me, Kate".


title: Will Chase

text: In 2020 and 2021 he wrote and directed the award- winning short films "Dagger" and "Trunk Show", the latter featuring his children, actors Daisy and Gracie Chase.


title: Will Chase

text: In 2022, he played Kurt Dockweiler in the two episodes of the first season of "", which premiered on Amazon Freevee on May 6, 2022. In March 2022 he started production on Apple TV's "The Crowded Room" starring opposite Tom Holland.


title: Will Chase

text: Chase has two children, Daisy and Gracie Chase, with the late Lori Davis, to whom he was married from 1996 to 2008. He was married to actress Stephanie Gibson from 2009 until their divorce in 2012.


title: Synthetic rubber

text: A synthetic rubber is an artificial elastomer. They are polymers synthesized from petroleum byproducts. About 32-million metric tons of rubbers are produced annually in the United States, and of that amount two thirds are synthetic. Synthetic rubber, just like natural rubber, has many uses in the automotive industry for tires, door and window profiles, seals such as O-rings and gaskets, hoses, belts, matting, and flooring. They offer a different range of physical and chemical properties, so can improve the reliability of a given product or application. Synthetic rubbers are superior to natural rubbers in two major respects, thermal stability and resistance to oils and related compounds. They are more resistant to oxidizing agents, such as oxygen and ozone which can reduce the life of products like tires.


title: Synthetic rubber

text: The expanded use of bicycles, and particularly their pneumatic tires, starting in the 1890s, created increased demand for rubber. In 1909, a team headed by Fritz Hofmann, working at the Bayer laboratory in Elberfeld, Germany, succeeded in polymerizing isoprene, the first synthetic rubber.


title: Synthetic rubber

text: Studies published in 1930 written independently by Lebedev, the American Wallace Carothers and the German scientist Hermann Staudinger led in 1931 to one of the first successful synthetic rubbers, known as neoprene, which was developed at DuPont under the direction of E. K. Bolton. Neoprene is highly resistant to heat and chemicals such as oil and gasoline, and is used in fuel hoses and as an insulating material in machinery. The company Thiokol applied their name to a competing type of rubber based on ethylene dichloride.


title: Synthetic rubber

text: In 1935, German chemists synthesized the first of a series of synthetic rubbers known as Buna rubbers. These were copolymers, meaning the polymers were made up from two monomers in alternating sequence. Other brands included "Koroseal", which Waldo Semon developed in 1935, and "Sovprene", which Russian researchers created in 1940.


title: Synthetic rubber

text: Production of synthetic rubber in the United States expanded greatly during World War II since the Axis powers controlled nearly all the world's limited supplies of natural rubber by mid-1942, following the Japanese conquest of most of Asia (from where much of the global supply of natural rubber was sourced).


title: Synthetic rubber

text: Operation Pointblank bombing targets of Nazi Germany included the Schkopau (50,000 tons/yr) plant and the Hüls synthetic rubber plant near Recklinghausen (30,000, 17%), and the Kölnische Gummifäden Fabrik tire and tube plant at Deutz on the east bank of the Rhine. The Ferrara, Italy, synthetic rubber factory (near a river bridge) was bombed August 23, 1944. Three other synthetic rubber facilities were at Ludwigshafen/Oppau (15,000), Hanover/Limmer (reclamation, 20,000), and Leverkusen (5,000). A synthetic rubber plant at Oświęcim, in Nazi-occupied Poland, was under construction on March 5, 1944 operated by IG Farben and supplied with slave labor, by the SS, from the associated camp Auschwitz III (Monowitz).


title: Synthetic rubber

text: The most prevalent synthetic rubber is styrene-butadiene rubbers (SBR) derived from the copolymerization of styrene and 1,3-butadiene. Other synthetic rubbers include:


title: Synthetic rubber

text: Many variations of these can be prepared with mixtures of monomers and with various catalysts that allow for control of stereochemistry.


title: Synthetic rubber

text: Polyisobutylene or butyl rubber is commonly used in tyre inner tubes or linings owing to its resistance to diffusion of air through the lining. It is however, a much less resilient material than cis-polybutadiene which is frequently used in tyre sidewalls to minimize energy losses and hence heat build-up. Indeed, it is so resilient that it is used in super balls. An elastomer widely used for external sheet such as roof coverings is Hypalon or chlorosulphonated polyethylene. Synthetic rubbers like EPR can also be used for electrical insulation.


title: Synthetic rubber

text: Silicone rubber is also a synthetic elastomer composed of silicone polymers. Silicone rubbers are widely used in industry, and there are multiple formulations. Silicone rubbers are often one- or two-part polymers, and may contain fillers to improve properties or reduce cost. Silicone rubber is generally non-reactive, stable, and resistant to extreme environments and temperatures.


title: Synthetic rubber

text: Some synthetic rubbers are less sensitive to ozone cracking than NR. Natural rubber is sensitive owing to the double bonds in its chain structure, but some synthetic rubbers do not possess these bonds and so are more resistant to ozone cracking. Examples include Viton rubber, EPDM and butyl rubber.


title: Synthetic rubber

text: A new class of synthetic rubber is the thermoplastic elastomers which can be moulded easily unlike conventional NR vulcanized rubber. Their structure is stabilized by cross-linking by crystallites in the case of polyurethanes or by amorphous domains in the case of SBS block copolymers.


title: Howard Jones (British musician)

text: John Howard Jones (born 23 February 1955) is a British musician, singer and songwriter. He had ten top 40 hit singles in the UK between 1983 and 1986; six of those 10 singles reached the top ten, including "What Is Love?", "New Song", and "Things Can Only Get Better". His 1984 album "Human's Lib" reached number one on the UK Albums Chart. Around the world, Jones had 15 top 40 hit singles between 1983 and 1992. The 1986 hit single "No One Is to Blame" reached No. 4 on the US charts. Four others placed in the US top 20.


title: Howard Jones (British musician)

text: Jones is associated with the 1980s Second British Invasion of the US. He has been described by AllMusic editor Stephen Thomas Erlewine as "one of the defining figures of mid-'80s synth-pop." He performed at the historic Live Aid concert in 1985.


title: Howard Jones (British musician)

text: Born in Southampton to Welsh parents, Howard Jones spent his early years in Rhiwbina, Cardiff, South Wales, where he attended Heol Llanishen Fach primary school and then Whitchurch Grammar School. Howard is the eldest of four boys. His brothers, Roy, Martin, and Paul, are all musicians in their own right. Young Howard began taking piano lessons at age seven. He later attended the Royal Grammar School in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire. The family moved to Canada when he was a teenager. His first band was Warrior, a progressive rock group.


title: Howard Jones (British musician)

text: After returning to the UK, Jones attended the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester in the mid-1970s while playing in various bands. He met Buddhist practitioner Bill Bryant, who wrote lyrics for some of Jones's songs and was a major influence in this period. The Jones brothers had a band called Red Beat in the late 1970s.


title: Howard Jones (British musician)

text: Jones appeared as a solo artist in local venues in High Wycombe before inviting mime artist Jed Hoile to perform improvised choreography as Jones played behind him. In 1983, he hired the Marquee Club in London and invited record labels to come and see him perform. After a BBC Radio 1 session, Jones obtained support slots with China Crisis and Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD) before signing to Warner Music Group (WMG) in mid-1983. He has cited influences such as OMD (whose song "Enola Gay" was covered by Jones in early live sets), Keith Emerson and Stevie Wonder.


title: Howard Jones (British musician)

text: His first single, "New Song", was released in September 1983. It reached the top 30 in the US and the top 5 in the UK. He made his debut performance on BBC Television's "Top of the Pops" on 22 September 1983, and he watched his tape-delayed performance on a borrowed television resting on an ironing board before a concert at the University of Kent. He had four more hits over the next twelve months and a UK number one album, "Human's Lib", which eventually went double platinum. Bill Bryant was credited with jointly writing the lyrics for six songs on the album. "New Song", "What Is Love?", and "Pearl in the Shell" all did well during 1983 and 1984. "Human's Lib" was certified gold and platinum in several countries. Jones had developed a loyal teen following. His parents ran his fan club.


title: Howard Jones (British musician)

text: In the summer of 1984, he released "Like to Get to Know You Well", which he said was 'dedicated to the original spirit of the Olympic Games.' Although it was not an official Olympic anthem for the Games in Los Angeles that summer, it was a worldwide hit. It reached No. 4 on the UK Singles Chart. The sleeve featured the song title in ten different languages while Jones sang the title line in French and German on the extended 12" version. The song also appeared in the film "Better Off Dead" (1985) and the video game "" (2006).


title: Howard Jones (British musician)

text: In February 1985, Jones appeared with Stevie Wonder, Herbie Hancock, and Thomas Dolby at the 27th Grammy Awards ceremony; the group performed a medley of material from all four artists.


title: Howard Jones (British musician)

text: Jones' second LP was a remix album. It contained six songs, all but one of which had been previously released, but which appeared in elongated formats, including the multilingual version of "Like to Get to Know You Well". The album was certified gold in the UK.


title: Howard Jones (British musician)

text: In 1985, Jones released his second studio album, "Dream into Action", which included backup work by the trio Afrodiziak. Afrodiziak included Caron Wheeler and Claudia Fontaine. His brother Martin played bass guitar. He had to have an extra string added to his instrument to play some of the bass lines, which had originally been scored for keyboard. One of the album's tracks, "No One Is to Blame", was later re-recorded, featuring Phil Collins as drummer and producer, and performing backing vocals. (This second version appears on Jones's U.S. EP "Action Replay", and also as a bonus track on the CD version of the following LP "One to One"). Jones's most successful album, "Dream into Action" was popular worldwide; it reached number two in the UK and number 10 in the US and remained on the US chart for almost a year. The singles "Life in One Day", "Things Can Only Get Better", and "Look Mama" appeared on this album. In July 1985, Jones performed at Wembley Stadium as part of the Live Aid concert, singing his 1984 hit "Hide and Seek" and playing piano. He also embarked on a world tour.


title: Howard Jones (British musician)

text: The EP "Action Replay" was released in 1986. It included the re-recorded version of "No One Is to Blame". The song was Howard Jones's biggest US hit, reaching number 4 on the chart. However, by this time, his fortunes were changing in his native UK, and "No One Is to Blame" peaked at number 16. His next single, "All I Want", peaked at number 35, and would be his last UK top 40 hit. Jones released his third studio album, "One to One", in October 1986, which peaked at number 10 in the UK and would be his last UK hit album, despite achieving gold sales status. Stateside, however, Jones continued to fill large arenas, and the single "You Know I Love You... Don't You?" went top twenty in 1986 on the "Billboard" Hot 100 singles chart.


title: Howard Jones (British musician)

text: In June 1988, Jones performed at Amnesty International's "Festival of Youth" at the Milton Keynes Bowl. Jones's subsequent album, "Cross That Line" (1989), performed poorly in the UK. However, the 1989 singles "Everlasting Love" (his second US Adult Contemporary number 1 hit after "No One Is to Blame") and "The Prisoner" charted in the United States. Jones continued to play large venues in the US during the late 1980s, and the Cross That Line Tour played major outdoor venues in the US in 1989.


title: Howard Jones (British musician)

text: Jones's 1992 album "In the Running" failed to chart in the United Kingdom. However, the single "Lift Me Up" (1992) charted in the United States.


title: Howard Jones (British musician)

text: With his 10-year tenure on the Warner Music label at an end, a greatest-hits compilation "The Best of Howard Jones" was released in 1993. The album peaked at number 36 in the UK, and by 2005 (12 years after its release) it was certified silver by the BPI for over 60,000 copies sold in the UK.


title: Howard Jones (British musician)

text: Jones had success as a songwriter for other artists in the early 1990s. He co-wrote the dance-music hits "Heaven Give Me Words" and "Your Wildlife" with the members of Propaganda. The tracks appeared on the 1990 album "1234"; "Heaven Give Me Words" reached number 22 on the Adult Contemporary chart and "Your Wildlife" reached number 22 on the Dance Music/Club Play Singles chart.


title: Howard Jones (British musician)

text: After Jones' contract with WMG expired, he concentrated on production, songwriting, and running a restaurant. He started his own record label, Dtox, releasing a number of albums through the label, such as "Working in the Backroom", produced in his own recording studio ('The Shed'). The album, which sold over 20,000 copies in the first year of release, was made available only at concerts and through his official website.


title: Howard Jones (British musician)

text: Jones toured the US and Europe over the next couple of years. "Live Acoustic America" came out in 1996 and "People" in 1998.


title: Howard Jones (British musician)

text: The track "If You Love" was featured on the soundtrack to the TV series "Party of Five". Jones continued to produce and write for a number of artists during the mid to late 1990s, including Martin Grech, DBA, and Sandie Shaw.


title: Howard Jones (British musician)

text: On 20 September 2003, Jones played a 20th anniversary concert at the Shepherd's Bush Empire, London, commemorating the release of his first single. He was joined by Midge Ure and Nena, as well as his mime artist, Jed Hoile. A recording of this concert was later released on DVD. Jones continued to tour and write new music, collaborating with Robbie Bronnimann to co-write and co-produce music for Sugababes, and Jones' own 2005 album "Revolution of the Heart". He toured playing gigs in the United States, Italy, Germany and Sweden and played a number of times at the Edinburgh Festival in 2006. The same year Jones provided a vocal for the song "Into the Dark" by Ferry Corsten for the latter's album, "L.E.F." Jones also re-recorded "Things Can Only Get Better" in Simlish, the fictional language spoken by characters in Electronic Arts', "The Sims 2". Jones was also featured on Katrina Carlson's cover of "No One Is to Blame", which entered the US Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks chart in 2007.


title: Howard Jones (British musician)

text: In October 2006, Jones released "Building Our Own Future" as a podsafe track, as one of several established artists looking to use podcasts as a new means of promoting their music and tours. The song debuted at number 1 on the PMC Top10 on 29 October 2006 and spent four weeks at the top of the chart. Howard's track "Revolution of the Heart" spent five weeks at number 1 on the PMC Top10 during 2007 and finished the year as the number 2 song in their annual countdown.


title: Howard Jones (British musician)

text: Jones embarked on an acoustic tour of Australia in 2007, beginning in Brisbane and concluding on 5 April in Perth. The "Revolution Remixed & Surrounded" album was followed in November by "Live in Birkenhead". Jones performed another acoustic set, with other 1980s acts at the Retrofest, on 1 September 2007 at Culzean Castle in Ayrshire, Scotland.


title: Howard Jones (British musician)

text: Jones is a member of Sōka Gakkai International, and is musical director of one of its choirs, the Glorious Life Chorus. The chorus performs some of his songs in its repertoire, including "Building Our Own Future" and "Respected". He returned to Australia again in 2009, this time accompanied by vocalist Laura Clapp and music technologist Robbie Bronnimann. On 26 February 2009, Jones was at the UK premiere of Roland's new V-Piano in Bristol, and performed "Hide and Seek". He continues to tour, and played the 'Big Hair Affair 2009' on 1 August 2009 at the Ryedale Arena, Pickering, North Yorkshire.


title: Howard Jones (British musician)

text: "Ordinary Heroes" was released in November 2009, and he toured London, Cardiff and Manchester with a string section and the Morriston Orpheus Choir (in St David's Hall in Cardiff). A single, "Soon You'll Go", preceded the album's launch. During an interview with the Stuck in the '80s podcast after the album's release, Howard Jones said "Soon You'll Go" was inspired by his daughter's upcoming departure to university, but that the song has come to take on broader meaning about cherishing the time he has with people.


title: Howard Jones (British musician)

text: Jones is a member of the board of directors for the Featured Artists Coalition, which was founded in 2009.


title: Howard Jones (British musician)

text: On 29 November 2011, a UK tour was announced. "Human's Lib" and "Dream Into Action" were performed in April 2012 across eight venues. A weekly radio series coincided with tour called "Electronic 80s with Howard Jones" on Absolute Radio.


title: Howard Jones (British musician)

text: In 2012, he appeared on "The Song That Changed My Life" on BYUtv, the cable station for Brigham Young University.


title: Howard Jones (British musician)

text: In 2016, he went out on tour supporting Barenaked Ladies as an opening act for their Last Summer on Earth US tour, reuniting with Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark.


title: Howard Jones (British musician)

text: In 2018, Jones joined fellow musician Steve Hogarth of Marillion by being present at the unveiling of a sculpture in tribute to David Bowie in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire.


title: Howard Jones (British musician)

text: "Transform", was released on 10 May, 2019. It features three collaborations with electronic musician BT. It is the second electronic album in a set of four, the first being "Engage". In 2022 the third album was released, "Dialogue" consisting of eight songs. The fourth album in the set, and his fifteenth studio album "Global Citizen" is expected in 2023.


title: Howard Jones (British musician)

text: Jones has spoken of the media's negative perception of him. In 2006, he said: "My songs are not about drug-taking or debauchery or rock and roll. They're about positive thinking and challenging people's ideas. I wasn't fashionable. I never got good reviews. But I'm proud of the fact that I wasn't liked by the media... Pop music is so reactionary and bigoted. And I found that what's 'cool' is often very shallow and transient."


title: Howard Jones (British musician)

text: In the late 1980s, Jones began practising Nichiren Buddhism as a member of the worldwide Buddhist association Soka Gakkai International; he has credited his daily practice of chanting "Nam myoho renge kyo" (I devote myself to the Lotus Sutra) since 1991 as "having a profoundly positive effect on my life."


title: RNA splicing

text: RNA splicing is a process in molecular biology where a newly-made precursor messenger RNA (pre-mRNA) transcript is transformed into a mature messenger RNA (mRNA). It works by removing all the introns (non-coding regions of RNA) and "splicing" back together exons (coding regions). For nuclear-encoded genes, splicing occurs in the nucleus either during or immediately after transcription. For those eukaryotic genes that contain introns, splicing is usually needed to create an mRNA molecule that can be translated into protein. For many eukaryotic introns, splicing occurs in a series of reactions which are catalyzed by the spliceosome, a complex of small nuclear ribonucleoproteins (snRNPs). There exist self-splicing introns, that is, ribozymes that can catalyze their own excision from their parent RNA molecule. The process of transcription, splicing and translation is called gene expression, the central dogma of molecular biology.


title: RNA splicing

text: Several methods of RNA splicing occur in nature; the type of splicing depends on the structure of the spliced intron and the catalysts required for splicing to occur.


title: RNA splicing

text: The word "intron" is derived from the terms "intragenic region", and "intracistron", that is, a segment of DNA that is located between two exons of a gene. The term intron refers to both the DNA sequence within a gene and the corresponding sequence in the unprocessed RNA transcript. As part of the RNA processing pathway, introns are removed by RNA splicing either shortly after or concurrent with transcription. Introns are found in the genes of most organisms and many viruses. They can be located in a wide range of genes, including those that generate proteins, ribosomal RNA (rRNA), and transfer RNA (tRNA).


title: RNA splicing

text: Within introns, a donor site (5' end of the intron), a branch site (near the 3' end of the intron) and an acceptor site (3' end of the intron) are required for splicing. The splice donor site includes an almost invariant sequence GU at the 5' end of the intron, within a larger, less highly conserved region. The splice acceptor site at the 3' end of the intron terminates the intron with an almost invariant AG sequence. Upstream (5'-ward) from the AG there is a region high in pyrimidines (C and U), or polypyrimidine tract. Further upstream from the polypyrimidine tract is the branchpoint, which includes an adenine nucleotide involved in lariat formation. The consensus sequence for an intron (in IUPAC nucleic acid notation) is: G-G-[cut]-G-U-R-A-G-U (donor site) ... intron sequence ... Y-U-R-A-C (branch sequence 20-50 nucleotides upstream of acceptor site) ... Y-rich-N-C-A-G-[cut]-G (acceptor site). However, it is noted that the specific sequence of intronic splicing elements and the number of nucleotides between the branchpoint and the nearest 3’ acceptor site affect splice site selection. Also, point mutations in the underlying DNA or errors during transcription can activate a "cryptic splice site" in part of the transcript that usually is not spliced. This results in a mature messenger RNA with a missing section of an exon. In this way, a point mutation, which might otherwise affect only a single amino acid, can manifest as a deletion or truncation in the final protein.


title: RNA splicing

text: Splicing is catalyzed by the spliceosome, a large RNA-protein complex composed of five small nuclear ribonucleoproteins (snRNPs). Assembly and activity of the spliceosome occurs during transcription of the pre-mRNA. The RNA components of snRNPs interact with the intron and are involved in catalysis. Two types of spliceosomes have been identified (major and minor) which contain different snRNPs.


title: RNA splicing

text: In most cases, splicing removes introns as single units from precursor mRNA transcripts. However, in some cases, especially in mRNAs with very long introns, splicing happens in steps, with part of an intron removed and then the remaining intron is spliced out in a following step. This has been found first in the "Ultrabithorax" ("Ubx") gene of the fruit fly, "Drosophila melanogaster", and a few other "Drosophila" genes, but cases in humans have been reported as well.


title: RNA splicing

text: Trans-splicing is a form of splicing that removes introns or outrons, and joins two exons that are not within the same RNA transcript. Trans-splicing can occur between two different endogenous pre-mRNAs or between an endogenous and an exogenous (such as from viruses) or artificial RNAs.


title: RNA splicing

text: Self-splicing occurs for rare introns that form a ribozyme, performing the functions of the spliceosome by RNA alone. There are three kinds of self-splicing introns, "Group I", "Group II" and "Group III". Group I and II introns perform splicing similar to the spliceosome without requiring any protein. This similarity suggests that Group I and II introns may be evolutionarily related to the spliceosome. Self-splicing may also be very ancient, and may have existed in an RNA world present before protein.


title: RNA splicing

text: The mechanism in which group II introns are spliced (two transesterification reaction like group I introns) is as follows:


title: RNA splicing

text: tRNA (also tRNA-like) splicing is another rare form of splicing that usually occurs in tRNA. The splicing reaction involves a different biochemistry than the spliceosomal and self-splicing pathways.


title: RNA splicing

text: In the yeast "Saccharomyces cerevisiae", a yeast tRNA splicing endonuclease heterotetramer, composed of TSEN54, TSEN2, TSEN34, and TSEN15, cleaves pre-tRNA at two sites in the acceptor loop to form a 5'-half tRNA, terminating at a 2',3'-cyclic phosphodiester group, and a 3'-half tRNA, terminating at a 5'-hydroxyl group, along with a discarded intron. Yeast tRNA kinase then phosphorylates the 5'-hydroxyl group using adenosine triphosphate. Yeast tRNA cyclic phosphodiesterase cleaves the cyclic phosphodiester group to form a 2'-phosphorylated 3' end. Yeast tRNA ligase adds an adenosine monophosphate group to the 5' end of the 3'-half and joins the two halves together. NAD-dependent 2'-phosphotransferase then removes the 2'-phosphate group.


title: RNA splicing

text: Splicing occurs in all the kingdoms or domains of life, however, the extent and types of splicing can be very different between the major divisions. Eukaryotes splice many protein-coding messenger RNAs and some non-coding RNAs. Prokaryotes, on the other hand, splice rarely and mostly non-coding RNAs. Another important difference between these two groups of organisms is that prokaryotes completely lack the spliceosomal pathway.


title: RNA splicing

text: Because spliceosomal introns are not conserved in all species, there is debate concerning when spliceosomal splicing evolved. Two models have been proposed: the intron late and intron early models (see intron evolution).


title: RNA splicing

text: Spliceosomal splicing and self-splicing involve a two-step biochemical process. Both steps involve transesterification reactions that occur between RNA nucleotides. tRNA splicing, however, is an exception and does not occur by transesterification.


title: RNA splicing

text: Spliceosomal and self-splicing transesterification reactions occur via two sequential transesterification reactions. First, the 2'OH of a specific "branchpoint" nucleotide within the intron, defined during spliceosome assembly, performs a nucleophilic attack on the first nucleotide of the intron at the 5' splice site, forming the "lariat intermediate". Second, the 3'OH of the released 5' exon then performs an nucleophilic attack at the first nucleotide following the last nucleotide of the intron at the 3' splice site, thus joining the exons and releasing the intron lariat.


title: RNA splicing

text: In many cases, the splicing process can create a range of unique proteins by varying the exon composition of the same mRNA. This phenomenon is then called alternative splicing. Alternative splicing can occur in many ways. Exons can be extended or skipped, or introns can be retained. It is estimated that 95% of transcripts from multiexon genes undergo alternative splicing, some instances of which occur in a tissue-specific manner and/or under specific cellular conditions. Development of high throughput mRNA sequencing technology can help quantify the expression levels of alternatively spliced isoforms. Differential expression levels across tissues and cell lineages allowed computational approaches to be developed to predict the functions of these isoforms.


title: RNA splicing

text: Given this complexity, alternative splicing of pre-mRNA transcripts is regulated by a system of trans-acting proteins (activators and repressors) that bind to cis-acting sites or "elements" (enhancers and silencers) on the pre-mRNA transcript itself. These proteins and their respective binding elements promote or reduce the usage of a particular splice site. The binding specificity comes from the sequence and structure of the cis-elements, e.g. in HIV-1 there are many donor and acceptor splice sites. Among the various splice sites, ssA7, which is 3' acceptor site, folds into three stem loop structures, i.e. Intronic splicing silencer (ISS), Exonic splicing enhancer (ESE), and Exonic splicing silencer (ESSE3). Solution structure of Intronic splicing silencer and its interaction to host protein hnRNPA1 give insight into specific recognition. However, adding to the complexity of alternative splicing, it is noted that the effects of regulatory factors are many times position-dependent. For example, a splicing factor that serves as a splicing activator when bound to an intronic enhancer element may serve as a repressor when bound to its splicing element in the context of an exon, and vice versa. In addition to the position-dependent effects of enhancer and silencer elements, the location of the branchpoint (i.e., distance upstream of the nearest 3’ acceptor site) also affects splicing. The secondary structure of the pre-mRNA transcript also plays a role in regulating splicing, such as by bringing together splicing elements or by masking a sequence that would otherwise serve as a binding element for a splicing factor.


title: RNA splicing

text: DNA damage affects splicing factors by altering their post-translational modification, localization, expression and activity. Furthermore, DNA damage often disrupts splicing by interfering with its coupling to transcription. DNA damage also has an impact on the splicing and alternative splicing of genes intimately associated with DNA repair. For instance, DNA damages modulate the alternative splicing of the DNA repair genes "Brca1" and "Ercc1".


title: RNA splicing

text: Splicing events can be experimentally altered by binding steric-blocking antisense oligos, such as Morpholinos or Peptide nucleic acids to snRNP binding sites, to the branchpoint nucleotide that closes the lariat, or to splice-regulatory element binding sites.


title: RNA splicing

text: It has been suggested that one third of all disease-causing mutations impact on splicing. Common errors include:


title: RNA splicing

text: Although many splicing errors are safeguarded by a cellular quality control mechanism termed nonsense-mediated mRNA decay (NMD), a number of splicing-related diseases also exist, as suggested above.


title: RNA splicing

text: Allelic differences in mRNA splicing are likely to be a common and important source of phenotypic diversity at the molecular level, in addition to their contribution to genetic disease susceptibility. Indeed, genome-wide studies in humans have identified a range of genes that are subject to allele-specific splicing.


title: RNA splicing

text: In plants, variation for flooding stress tolerance correlated with stress-induced alternative splicing of transcripts associated with gluconeogenesis and other processes.


title: RNA splicing

text: In addition to RNA, proteins can undergo splicing. Although the biomolecular mechanisms are different, the principle is the same: parts of the protein, called inteins instead of introns, are removed. The remaining parts, called exteins instead of exons, are fused together.


title: RNA splicing

text: Protein splicing has been observed in a wide range of organisms, including bacteria, archaea, plants, yeast and humans.


title: Venus (Shocking Blue song)

text: "Venus" is a song by Dutch rock band Shocking Blue, initially released as a single in the Netherlands in the summer of 1969. Written by Robbie van Leeuwen, the song topped the charts in nine countries.


title: Venus (Shocking Blue song)

text: The song has been covered dozens of times by many artists. In 1986, English girl group Bananarama covered "Venus" for their third studio album, "True Confessions", with the single reaching number one in six countries. The composition has been featured in numerous films, television shows and commercials.


title: Venus (Shocking Blue song)

text: The song was written by Robbie van Leeuwen, Shocking Blue's guitarist, sitarist and background vocalist. Van Leeuwen wrote new lyrics set to music based on "The Banjo Song" by Tim Rose and the Big 3, which is in turn lyrically a modification of the 19th century song "Oh! Susanna" by Stephen Foster. Influences from other songs include the opening guitar riff that is similar to The Who's "Pinball Wizard".


title: Venus (Shocking Blue song)

text: The song was recorded on a two-track machine in Soundpush Studio in Blaricum, the Netherlands. Van Leeuwen also produced the song.


title: Venus (Shocking Blue song)

text: In the Shocking Blue original version, the song's lead vocals were performed by Mariska Veres. The lyrics, however, contained a typo in the line "A goddess on a mountain top", with "goddess" written as "goddness", which was how Veres sang it on the record and on television. Later recordings by other artists corrected the word.


title: Venus (Shocking Blue song)

text: "Venus" was issued in the Netherlands in July 1969 as a single, backed with "Hot Sand", on the Pink Elephant label, a label specially created for Shocking Blue by Dureco. The song initially peaked at number three on the Dutch Top 40 on 12 July 1969, and remained at that position for a total of five weeks. It also reached No. 1 in Belgium, France and Germany.


title: Venus (Shocking Blue song)

text: Jerry Ross, who was in Europe in the autumn of 1969 looking for European hits for release in the United States, was offered the song. He signed The Shocking Blue to his newly-created Colossus Records, and chose the record for release in the United States later that year. "Venus" reached number one on "Billboard" Hot 100 on 7 February 1970. It became the first song by a Dutch band to reach No. 1 on the "Billboard" Hot 100. On 28 January 1970, it was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for sales in excess of one million copies in the United States. Its success in the United States prompted further interest in other markets around the world in the 1970, and it reached No. 3 again in the Netherlands, as well as the top 10 in the UK. Its success also spurred interests in other Dutch groups. Worldwide, the single has sold over 5 million copies.


title: Venus (Shocking Blue song)

text: In 1981, it was used to open the "Stars on 45" medley. "Venus" was included as a bonus track on the 1989 CD reissue of Shocking Blue's second studio album, "At Home", originally released in 1969.


title: Venus (Shocking Blue song)

text: "Venus" had been a part of Bananarama's repertoire for several years before they actually recorded it. The group's three members, Sara Dallin, Siobhan Fahey and Keren Woodward, had the idea of turning the song into a dance tune, but they were met with resistance from their producers at the time, Steven Jolley and Tony Swain. The group brought the idea to the production trio of Stock Aitken Waterman, and it became Bananarama's first collaboration with them.


title: Venus (Shocking Blue song)

text: The group had nearly completed recording their third studio album, "True Confessions", with Jolley & Swain. Stock, Aitken and Waterman also resisted the idea because they believed that "Venus" would not make a good dance record. After persistence by the group, SAW relented. The track was initially produced in an arrangement more faithful to the Shocking Blue original, but was reworked in hi-NRG style after Siobhan requested it sound like Dead or Alive's "You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)".


title: Venus (Shocking Blue song)

text: Bananarama's "Venus" peaked at number one in the United States, Australia, Finland, New Zealand, Switzerland and South Africa, while reaching number two in Germany and the top-ten in Austria, Belgium, Canada, France, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom (number eight on the UK Singles Chart, matching the same peak of Shocking Blue's version). It also topped the US Dance Club Songs chart for two weeks.


title: Venus (Shocking Blue song)

text: The collaboration on "Venus" led Bananarama and SAW to work together on the group's follow-up album, "Wow!", the following year.


title: Venus (Shocking Blue song)

text: A new mix of the song appeared as the B-side to the 1989 limited release "Megarama '89" in Germany and France. Bananarama has since re-recorded "Venus" for their eighth album "Exotica" (2001). It was later remixed by Marc Almond, with re-recorded vocals and included on their ninth album "Drama" (2005).


title: Venus (Shocking Blue song)

text: In 2021, British magazine "Classic Pop" ranked "Venus" number two in their list of "Top 40 Stock Aitken Waterman songs".


title: Venus (Shocking Blue song)

text: The accompanying music video, directed by Peter Care, with choreography by Bruno Tonioli, received extensive play on MTV and video channels across the world, and presented Dallin, Fahey and Woodward in various costumes, including a she-devil, a French temptress, a vampiress and several Greek goddesses. In one sequence of the video, Sandro Botticelli's painting "The Birth of Venus" is adapted as a "tableau vivant". The video marked a pivotal shift towards a more glamorous and sexual image for the group that contrasted with the tomboyish style of their earlier work.


title: Venus (Shocking Blue song)

text: "UK: London Records NANA 10 / US: London Records 886-056-7 / Canada: London Records LDS 227 / Australia: Liberation Records LS 1789"


title: Venus (Shocking Blue song)

text: "Venus" was remixed and re-released by dance producers The BHF (Bisiach Hornbostel Ferrucci) Team in May 1990. Titled "Venus '90", the remix featured a hip house rhythm and samples. "Venus '90" reached number 78 on the UK Singles Chart and number 49 on the Australian ARIA Singles Chart. An instrumental version was also released independently under the producer's alias, Don Pablo's Animals, without referencing Shocking Blue. The instrumental version became the highest-charting version of the song, peaking at number four on the UK Singles Chart.


title: Venus (Shocking Blue song)

text: Dutch DJ Pieter Gabriel remixed the song for the opening ceremony of The Grand Final of The Eurovision Song Contest 2021 held in Rotterdam in The Netherlands. The remix was used as a backdrop for the 26 finalists being introduced onto the stage in a flag ceremony.


title: Venus (Shocking Blue song)

text: Shocking Blue's "Venus" was featured in the sixth episode of the 2020 Netflix miniseries "The Queen's Gambit". The protagonist Beth (played by Anya Taylor-Joy) dances and sings to the music video. The scene takes place in 1967, well before the song was released in 1969.


title: Venus (Shocking Blue song)

text: Bananarama's version of the song was used in an episode of the American animated show "American Dad" in which the character Roger uses it as the national anthem. He named the country after the group and afterwards the residents of the country danced to the song.


title: Section 377

text: Section 377 of the British colonial penal code criminalized all sexual acts "against the order of nature". The law was used to prosecute people engaging in oral and anal sex along with homosexual activity. The penal code remains in many former colonies, such as India (but has been repealed in Singapore) and has been used to criminalize third gender people, such as the "apwint" in Myanmar. In 2018, British Prime Minister Theresa May acknowledged how the legacies of British colonial anti-sodomy laws continue to persist today in the form of discrimination, violence, and death.


title: Section 377

text: Although the act of sodomy was sometimes prosecuted in England under British common law, it was first codified in the British empire as Section 377 in the Indian Penal Code as "carnal intercourse against the order of nature" in 1860. Section 377 was then exported to other colonies and even to England itself, providing the legal model for the act of 'buggery' in the Offenses Against the Person Act (1861). Alok Gupta wrote for a Human Rights Watch report in 2008 that the British intended for the code to prevent Christian colonial subjects from "corruption" and condition colonized subjects undergoing Christianization to conform to colonial authority.


title: Section 377

text: Although Section 377 did not explicitly include the word "homosexual", it has been used to prosecute homosexual activity. The provision was introduced by authorities in the Raj in 1862 as Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code and functioned as the legal impetus behind the criminalization of what was referred to as, "unnatural offenses" throughout the various colonies, in several cases with the same section number.


title: Section 377

text: Although most colonies have since gained independence through statehood since Section 377 was implemented, it remains in the penal codes of the following countries:


title: Section 377

text: Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code is a section of the Indian Penal Code introduced in 1861 during the British rule of India. Modeled on the Buggery Act of 1533, it makes sexual activities "against the order of nature" illegal. On 6 September 2018, the Supreme Court of India ruled that the application of Section 377 to consensual homosexual sex between adults was unconstitutional, "irrational, indefensible and manifestly arbitrary", but that Section 377 remains in force relating to sex with minors, non-consensual sexual acts, and bestiality.


title: Section 377

text: Portions of the section were first struck down as unconstitutional with respect to gay sex by the Delhi High Court in July 2009. That judgement was overturned by the Supreme Court of India (SC) on 11 December 2013 in "Suresh Kumar Koushal vs. Naz Foundation". The Court held that amending or repealing section 377 should be a matter left to Parliament, not the judiciary. On 6 February 2016, a three-member bench of the Court reviewed curative petitions submitted by the Naz Foundation and others, and decided that they would be reviewed by a five-member constitutional bench.


title: Section 377

text: On 24 August 2017, the Supreme Court upheld the right to privacy as a fundamental right under the Constitution in the landmark "Puttaswamy" judgement. The Court also called for equality and condemned discrimination, stated that the protection of sexual orientation lies at the core of the fundamental rights and that the rights of the LGBT population are real and founded on constitutional doctrine. This judgement was believed to imply the unconstitutionality of section 377.


title: Section 377

text: In January 2018, the Supreme Court agreed to hear a petition to revisit the 2013 "Naz Foundation" judgment. On 6 September 2018, the Court ruled unanimously in "Navtej Singh Johar v. Union of India" that Section 377 was unconstitutional "in so far as it criminalises consensual sexual conduct between adults of the same sex". The judgment was given by a five judges bench comprising the then Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra, Justices R. F. Nariman, D. Y. Chandrachud, A. M. Khanwilkar and Indu Malhotra.


title: Section 377

text: In 2008 Additional Solicitor General PP Malhotra said: "Homosexuality is a social vice and the state has the power to contain it. [Decriminalising homosexuality] may create [a] breach of peace. If it is allowed then [the] evil of AIDS and HIV would further spread and harm the people. It would lead to a big health hazard and degrade moral values of society." This view was shared by the Home Ministry.


title: Section 377

text: 11 December 2013 judgement of the Supreme Court, upholding Section 377 was met with support from religious leaders. The Daily News and Analysis called it "the univocal unity of religious leaders in expressing their homophobic attitude. Usually divisive and almost always seen tearing down each other’s religious beliefs, leaders across sections came forward in decrying homosexuality and expressing their solidarity with the judgment" The "Daily News and Analysis" article added that Baba Ramdev, India's well-known yoga guru, after praying that journalists not "turn homosexual", stated he could "cure" homosexuality through yoga and called it "a bad addiction".


title: Section 377

text: The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare opposed the upholding of Section 377, stating that it would hinder anti-HIV/AIDS efforts. According to the NCRB, in 2015, 1,491 people were arrested under Section 377, including 207 minors (14%) and 16 women. Human Rights Watch also argued that the law had been used to harass HIV/AIDS prevention efforts, as well as sex workers, homosexuals, and other groups at risk of the disease, even though those found guilty of extortion in relation to accusations that relate to Section 377 may face a life sentence under a special provision of Section 389 of the IPC. The People's Union for Civil Liberties has published two reports on the rights violations faced by sexual minorities and, in particular, transsexuals in India.


title: Section 377

text: In 2006, Section 377 came under criticism from 100 Indian literary figures, most prominently Vikram Seth. The law subsequently drew even more criticism from several ministers, most prominently Anbumani Ramadoss and Oscar Fernandes. In 2008, a judge of the Bombay High Court also called for the scrapping of the law.


title: Section 377

text: The United Nations also said that the ban violated international law. United Nations human rights chief Navi Pillay stated that "Criminalising private, consensual same-sex sexual conduct violates the rights to privacy and to non-discrimination enshrined in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which India has ratified", and that the decision "represents a significant step backwards for India and a blow for human rights.", voicing hope that the Court might exercise its review procedure.


title: Section 377

text: Rajnath Singh, a member of the ruling party BJP and the Home Minister, is on record shortly after the law was re-instated in 2013, claiming that his party is "unambiguously" in favour of the law, also claiming that "We will state (at an all-party meeting if it is called) that we support Section 377 because we believe that homosexuality is an unnatural act and cannot be supported.” Yogi Adityanath, BJP MP, welcomed the 2013 verdict and will "oppose any move to decriminalise homosexuality."


title: Section 377

text: The Samajwadi Party made it clear that it will oppose any amendments to the section if it comes in Parliament for discussion, calling homosexuality "unethical and immoral." Ram Gopal Yadav stated that they support the Supreme Court decision as "It is completely against the culture of our nation."


title: Section 377

text: The Congress party-led UPA government also supported the law during the initial Naz Foundation case, stating that gay sex was 'immoral' and that it cannot be decriminalized.


title: Section 377

text: Bharatiya Janata Party leader Subramanian Swamy said that homosexuality was not a normal thing and was against Hindutva. He went on to say that it was "a danger to our national security" and that the government should invest in medical research to see if homosexuality can be cured. He added that "there is a lot of money behind it. The Americans want to open gay bars, and it'll be a cover for paedophiles and a huge rise in HIV cases."


title: Section 377

text: Most political parties which opposed homosexuality previously had reversed their stand after the 2018 verdict by the Supreme Court, except Indian Union Muslim League which continued to oppose saying that 'homosexuality is against Indian culture'.


title: Section 377

text: Former Finance Minister and BJP member Arun Jaitley said that "Supreme Court should not have reversed the Delhi High Court order which de-criminalized consensual sex between gay adults" and "When millions of people the world over are having alternative sexual preferences, it is too late in the day to propound the view that they should be jailed." BJP spokesperson Shaina NC said her party supports decriminalisation of homosexuality. "We are for decriminalising homosexuality. That is the progressive way forward."


title: Section 377

text: In December 2013, Indian National Congress President Rahul Gandhi came out in support of LGBT rights and said that "every individual had the right to choose". He also said "These are personal choices. This country is known for its freedom, freedom of expression. So let that be. I hope that Parliament will address the issue and uphold the constitutional guarantee of life and liberty to all citizens of India, including those directly affected by the judgement", he said. The LGBT rights movement in India was also part of the election manifesto of the Congress for the 2014 general elections. Sonia Gandhi also shared a similar view. Senior Congress leader and former Finance Minister P. Chidambaram stated that the 2013 "Suresh Kumar Koushal vs. Naz Foundation" judgement must be quickly reversed. He also said that "Section 377, in my view, was rightly struck down or read down by the Delhi High Court judgement by Justice AP Shah."


title: Section 377

text: The RSS revised its position, the leader Dattatreya Hosabale reportedly saying, "no criminalisation, but no glorification either."


title: Section 377

text: RSS leader Bhagwat also came out in support of the LGBTQIA+ community stating that they should be accepted as an integral part of society.


title: Section 377

text: Brinda Karat of the Communist Party said the SC order was retrograde and that criminalising alternative sexuality is wrong.


title: Section 377

text: Shivanand Tiwari, leader of Janata Dal United, did not support the Supreme Court decision, calling homosexuality practical and constitutional. He added that "This happens in society and if people believe it is natural for them, why is the Supreme Court trying to stop them?"


title: Section 377

text: Derek O'Brien of the Trinamool Congress said that he is disappointed at a personal level and this is not expected in the liberal world we live in today.


title: Section 377

text: On 18 December 2015, Lok Sabha member Shashi Tharoor of the Indian National Congress introduced a private member's bill to replace Section 377 in the Indian Penal Code and decriminalize consensual same-sex relations. The bill was defeated in first reading, 71–24. For his part, Tharoor expressed surprise at the bill's rejection at this early stage. He said that he did not have time to rally support and that he will attempt to reintroduce the bill.


title: Section 377

text: In March 2016, Tharoor tried to reintroduce the private member's bill to decriminalize homosexuality but was voted down for the second time.


title: Section 377

text: The movement to repeal Section 377 was initiated by AIDS Bhedbhav Virodhi Andolan in 1991. Their historic publication "Less than Gay: A Citizen's Report", spelt out the problems with 377 and asked for its repeal. A 1996 article in Economic and Political Weekly by Vimal Balasubrahmanyan titled 'Gay Rights In India' chronicles this early history. As the case prolonged over the years, it was revived in the next decade, led by the Naz Foundation (India) Trust, an activist group, which filed a public interest litigation in the Delhi High Court in 2001, seeking the legalisation of homosexual intercourse between consenting adults. The Naz Foundation worked with a legal team from the Lawyers Collective to engage in court. In 2003, the Delhi High Court refused to consider a petition regarding the legality of the law, saying that the petitioners, had no "locus standi" in the matter. Since nobody had been prosecuted in the recent past under this section it seemed unlikely that the section would be struck down as illegal by the Delhi High Court in the absence of a petitioner with standing.


title: Section 377

text: Naz Foundation appealed to the Supreme Court against the decision of the High Court to dismiss the petition on technical grounds. The Supreme Court decided that Naz Foundation had the standing to file a PIL in this case and sent the case back to the Delhi High Court to reconsider it on merit. Subsequently, there was a significant intervention in the case by a Delhi-based coalition of LGBT, women's and human rights activists called 'Voices Against 377', which supported the demand to 'read down' section 377 to exclude adult consensual sex from within its purview.


title: Section 377

text: There was support from others like Sunil Mehra, a notable journalist. He was in a committed relationship with Navtej Singh Johar and drew from his personal experiences while protesting. Ritu Dalmia also demonstrated keen activism. Aman Nath, a writer, historian, and hotelier, also fought for the decriminalisation of Section 377. He had a relationship with Francis Wacziarg for 23 years until Wacziarg passed away. Ayesha Kapur became successful within a decade of working in a nascent e-commerce sector. However, she left her job because she was afraid of people finding out about her sexuality. Over time, she gained the coulegalizingme out and challenge Section 377.


title: Section 377

text: In May 2008, the case came up for hearing in the Delhi High Court, but the Government was undecided on its position, with The Ministry of Home Affairs maintaining a contradictory position to that of the Ministry of Health on the issue of enforcement of Section 377 with respect to homosexuality. On 7 November 2008, the seven-year-old petition finished hearings. The Indian Health Ministry supported this petition, while the Home Ministry opposed such a move. On 12 June 2009, India's new law minister Veerappa Moily agreed that Section 377 might be outdated.


title: Section 377

text: Eventually, in a historic judgement delivered on 2 July 2009, Delhi High Court overturned the 150-year-old section, legalising consensual homosexual activities between adults. The essence of the section goes against the fundamental right of human citizens, stated the high court while striking it down. In a 105-page judgement, a bench of Chief Justice Ajit Prakash Shah and Justice S. Muralidhar said that if not amended, section 377 of the IPC would violate Article 14 of the Indian constitution, which states that every citizen has equal opportunity of life and is equal before law.


title: Section 377

text: The court stated that the judgement would hold until Parliament chose to amend the law. However, the judgement keeps intact the provisions of Section 377 insofar as it applies to non-consensual non-vaginal intercourse and intercourse with minors.


title: Section 377

text: A batch of appeals were filed with the Supreme Court, challenging the Delhi High Court judgment. On 27 March 2012, the Supreme Court reserved verdict on these. After initially opposing the judgement, the Attorney General G. E. Vahanvati decided not to file any appeal against the Delhi High Court's verdict, stating, "insofar as [Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code] criminalises consensual sexual acts of adults in private [before it was struck down by the High Court] was imposed upon Indian society due to the moral views of the British rulers."


title: Section 377

text: Suresh Kumar Koushal and another v. NAZ Foundation and others is a 2013 case in which a two-judge Supreme Court bench consisting of G. S. Singhvi and S. J. Mukhopadhaya overturned the Delhi High Court case "Naz Foundation v. Govt. of NCT of Delhi" and reinstated Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code.


title: Section 377

text: This ruling was despite the urging of a group of mental health professionals who filed a collection of written submissions to the Supreme court with commentary on the case grounded in their expert opinion The mental health professionals noted that they frequently see LGBT or queer clients who suffer significant psychological distress—depression, anxiety, and more—due to the threat and social censure posed by IPC 377. These mental health professionals argued that IPC 377 causes LGBT and queer individuals to feel that they are "criminals," and that this status is a significant part of their psychological distress.


title: Section 377

text: The United Nations human rights chief Navi Pillay voiced her disappointment at the re-criminalization of consensual same-sex relationships in India, calling it “a significant step backwards” for the country. In the wake of Indian Supreme Court's ruling that gay sex is illegal, UN chief Ban Ki-moon stressed on the need for equality and opposed any discrimination against lesbians, gays and bisexuals.


title: Section 377

text: Soon after the judgement, Sonia Gandhi, President of the then ruling Congress party, asked Parliament to do away with section 377. Her son and Congress Party vice-President, Rahul Gandhi also wanted section-377 to go and supported gay rights. In July 2014, Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju in the BJP led Central government told the Lok Sabha in a written reply that a decision regarding Section 377 of IPC can be taken only after pronouncement of judgement by the Supreme Court. However, on 13 January 2015, BJP spokesperson Shaina NC, appearing on NDTV, stated, "We [BJP] are for decriminalizing homosexuality. That is the progressive way forward."


title: Section 377

text: On 2 February 2016, the final hearing of the curative petition submitted by the Naz Foundation and others came for hearing in the Supreme Court. The three-member bench headed by the Chief Justice of India T. S. Thakur said that all the 8 curative petitions submitted will be reviewed afresh by a five-member constitutional bench.


title: Section 377

text: On 24 August 2017, the Supreme Court of India gave the Right to Privacy verdict. In the case of Justice K. S. Puttaswamy (Retd.) and Anr. vs Union Of India And Ors. The Supreme court held that the Right to Privacy is a fundamental right protected under Article 21 and Part III of the Indian Constitution. The judgement mentioned Section 377 as a "discordant note which directly bears upon the evolution of the constitutional jurisprudence on the right to privacy." In the judgement delivered by the 9-judge bench, Justice Chandrachud (who authored for Justices Khehar, Agarwal, Abdul Nazeer and himself), held that the rationale behind the Suresh Koushal (2013) Judgement is incorrect, and the judges clearly expressed their disagreement with it. Justice Kaul agreed with Justice Chandrachud's view that the right of privacy cannot be denied, even if there is a minuscule fraction of the population which is affected. He further went on to state that the majoritarian concept does not apply to Constitutional rights and the courts are often called upon to take what may be categorized as a non-majoritarian view, in the check and balance of power envisaged under the Constitution of India.


title: Section 377

text: <poem>Sexual orientation is an essential attribute of privacy. Discrimination against an individual on the basis of sexual orientation is deeply offensive to the dignity and self-worth of the individual. Equality demands that the sexual orientation of each individual in society must be protected on an even platform. The right to privacy and the protection of sexual orientation lie at the core of the fundamental rights guaranteed by Articles 14, 15 and 21 of the Constitution.


title: Section 377

text: ...Their rights are not "so-called" but are real rights founded on sound constitutional doctrine. They inhere in the right to life. They dwell in privacy and dignity. They constitute the essence of liberty and freedom. Sexual orientation is an essential component of identity. Equal protection demands protection of the identity of every individual without discrimination.</poem>


title: Section 377

text: However, as the curative petition (challenging Section 377) is currently sub-judice, the judges authored that they would leave the constitutional validity to be decided in an appropriate proceeding. Many legal experts have suggested that with this judgement, the judges have invalidated the reasoning behind the 2013 Judgement, thus laying the ground-work for Section 377 to be read down and the restoration of the 2009 Judgement of the High Court, thereby decriminalizing homosexual sex.


title: Section 377

text: In 2018, after decades of grassroots activism, the application of section 377 of the Indian Penal Code to private consensual sex between men was ruled unconstitutional by India's Supreme Court, effectively decriminalizing homosexual activity.


title: Section 377

text: The five-judge constitutional bench of the Supreme Court consisting of chief justice Dipak Misra and justices Dhananjaya Y. Chandrachud, Ajay Manikrao Khanwilkar, Indu Malhotra, and Rohinton Fali Nariman started hearing the challenge to constitutionality of Section 377. The Union Government did not take a position on the issue and left it to the "wisdom of the court" to decide on Section 377. The petitioners invoked the right to sexual privacy, dignity, right against discrimination and freedom of expression to argue against the constitutionality of Section 377. After hearing the petitioners' plea for four days, the court reserved its verdict on 17 July 2018. The bench pronounced its verdict on 6 September 2018. Announcing the verdict, the court reversed its own 2013 judgement of restoring Section 377 by stating that using the section of the IPC to victimize homosexuals was unconstitutional, and henceforth, a criminal act. In its ruling, the Supreme Court stated that consensual sexual acts between adults cannot be a crime, deeming the prior law "irrational, arbitrary and incomprehensible."


title: Section 377

text: "The Wire" drew parallels between the supreme court's judgement and Privy Council’s 1929 verdict in "Edwards vs Canada (AG)" that allowed for Women to sit in the Senate of Canada. It compared the petitioners to the Canadian "Famous Five".


title: Section 377

text: In 2011, Italian film maker Adele Tulli, made "365 Without 377" which followed the landmarking ruling in 2009, and the Indian LGBTQ community in Bombay celebrations. It won the Turin LGBT Film Fest award in 2011.


title: Section 377

text: Section 377A of the Singapore Penal Code criminalized sex between men, until its full repeal on 29 November 2022.


title: Delayed gratification

text: Delayed gratification, or deferred gratification, is the resistance to the temptation of an immediate pleasure in the hope of obtaining a valuable and long-lasting reward in the long-term. In other words, delayed gratification describes the process that the subject undergoes when the subject resists the temptation of an immediate reward in preference for a later reward. Generally, delayed gratification is associated with resisting a smaller but more immediate reward in order to receive a larger or more enduring reward later. A growing body of literature has linked the ability to delay gratification to a host of other positive outcomes, including academic success, physical health, psychological health, and social competence.


title: Delayed gratification

text: A person's ability to delay gratification relates to other similar skills such as patience, impulse control, self-control and willpower, all of which are involved in self-regulation. Broadly, self-regulation encompasses a person's capacity to adapt the self as necessary to meet demands of the environment. Delaying gratification is the reverse of delay discounting, which is "the preference for smaller immediate rewards over larger but delayed rewards" and refers to the "fact that the subjective value of reward decreases with increasing delay to its receipt". It is theorized that the ability to choose delayed rewards is under the control of the cognitive-affective personality system (CAPS).


title: Delayed gratification

text: Several factors can affect a person's ability to delay gratification. Cognitive strategies, such as the use of distracting or "cool" thoughts, can increase delay ability, as can neurological factors, such as strength of connections in the frontal-striatal pathway. Behavioral researchers have focused on the contingencies that govern choices to delay reinforcement, and have studied how to manipulate those contingencies in order to lengthen delay. Age plays a role too; children under five years old demonstrate a marked lack of delayed gratification ability and most commonly seek immediate gratification. A very small difference between males and females suggest that females may be better at delaying rewards. The ability to wait or seek immediate reinforcement is related to avoidance-related behaviors such as procrastination, and to other clinical diagnoses such as anxiety, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and depression.


title: Delayed gratification

text: Sigmund Freud, the founder of psychoanalytic theory, discussed the ego's role in balancing the immediate pleasure-driven desires of the id with the morality-driven choices of the superego. Funder and Block expanded psychoanalytic research on the topic, and found that impulsivity, or a lack of ego-control, has a stronger effect on one's ability to choose delayed rewards if a reward is more desirable. Finally, environmental and social factors play a role; for example, delay is affected by the self-imposed or external nature of a reward contingency, by the degree of task engagement required during the delay, by early mother-child relationship characteristics, by a person's previous experiences with unreliable promises of rewards (e.g., in poverty), and by contemporary sociocultural expectations and paradigms. Research on animals comprises another body of literature describing delayed gratification characteristics that are not as easily tested in human samples, such as ecological factors affecting the skill.


title: Delayed gratification

text: One well-supported theory of self-regulation, called the Cognitive-affective personality system (CAPS), suggests that delaying gratification results from an ability to use "cool" regulatory strategies (i.e., calm, controlled and cognitive strategies) over "hot regulatory strategies (i.e., emotional, impulsive, automatic reactions), when faced with provocation. In "hot" processing, a person thinks intently about the object causing temptation, and especially about its most appealing elements, and is subsequently less able to resist the immediate reward. The use of cool strategies can translate to more control over behavior. Effective "cool" strategies involve distraction and restructuring the perception of the tempting stimulus to make it seem less appealing. For example, in one study of pre-adolescent boys with behavioral problems, the boys showed a reduction in verbal and physical aggression when they used "cool" strategies, such as looking away or distracting themselves. The most effective type of distraction seems to be imagining another desirable reward, which takes attention away from the immediate temptations.


title: Delayed gratification

text: The seminal research on delayed gratification – the now-famous "marshmallow experiment" – was conducted by Walter Mischel in the 1960s and 1970s at Stanford University. Mischel and his colleagues were interested in strategies that preschool children used to resist temptation. They presented four-year-olds with a marshmallow and told the children that they had two options: (1) ring a bell at any point to summon the experimenter and eat the marshmallow, or (2) wait until the experimenter returned (about 15 minutes later), and earn two marshmallows. The message was: "small reward now, bigger reward later." Some children broke down and ate the marshmallow, whereas others were able to delay gratification and earn the coveted two marshmallows. In follow-up experiments, Mischel found that children were able to wait longer if they used certain "cool" distraction techniques (covering their eyes, hiding under the desk, singing songs, or imagining pretzels instead of the marshmallow in front of them), or if they changed the way they thought about the marshmallow (focusing on its similarity to a cotton ball, rather than on its gooey, delectable taste).


title: Delayed gratification

text: The children who waited longer, when re-evaluated as teenagers and adults, demonstrated a striking array of advantages over their peers. As teenagers, they had higher SAT scores, social competence, self-assuredness and self-worth, and were rated by their parents as more mature, better able to cope with stress, more likely to plan ahead, and more likely to use reason. They were less likely to have conduct disorders or high levels of impulsivity, aggressiveness and hyperactivity. As adults, the high delayers were less likely to have drug problems or other addictive behaviors, get divorced, or be overweight. Each minute that a preschooler was able to delay gratification translated to a .2% reduction in Body Mass Index 30 years later.


title: Delayed gratification

text: Each of these positive outcomes requires some ability to forgo short-term reward in favor of a higher payoff in the future. The ability to delay gratification also appears to be a buffer against rejection sensitivity (the tendency to be anxious when anticipating interpersonal rejection). In a 20-year follow-up of the marshmallow experiment, individuals with vulnerability to high rejection sensitivity who had shown strong delay of gratification abilities as preschoolers had higher self-esteem and self-worth and more adaptive coping skills, in comparison to the individuals who had high rejection sensitivity but low delay of gratification as four-year-olds. These compelling longitudinal findings converge with other studies showing a similar pattern: The ability to resist temptation early in life translates to persistent benefits across settings.


title: Delayed gratification

text: Forty years after the first marshmallow test studies, neuroimaging data has shed light on the neural correlates of delayed gratification. A team led by B. J. Casey, of Cornell University, recruited 59 of the original participants – who are now in their mid-40s – and gave them a delayed gratification task. Instead of resisting marshmallows, these adults were instructed to suppress responses to images of happy faces, but not to neutral or fearful faces. Those who had been high delayers as pre-schoolers were more successful at controlling their impulses in response to the emotional faces (i.e., not pressing the button in response to happy faces), suggesting that the high delayers continued to show better ability to dampen or resist impulses. Casey and colleagues also scanned the brains of 26 participants using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) as they completed the task. The researchers hypothesized that high delayers would be more likely to use "cool" regulation strategies to control their responses, which would manifest as activation of the right prefrontal cortex, whereas low delayers would use "hot" strategies, which would activate the ventral striatum, an area also linked to addiction. Indeed, results showed this differential brain activity. This mirrors other fMRI research of delayed gratification conducted by Noah Shamosh and Jeremy Gray, of Yale University, demonstrating that individuals who chose larger delayed rewards over smaller immediate rewards (in hypothetical situations) showed greater brain activation in the anterior prefrontal cortex.


title: Delayed gratification

text: The way that a person frames a situation heavily influences a decision's outcome. Research on "hot" and "cool" strategies suggests that when children cognitively represent what they are waiting for as a real reward by focusing on the reward's arousing, "hot" qualities (taste, smell, sound, feel, etc.) their self-control and delay of gratification decreases, while directing attention to a symbol of the reward by focusing on its abstract, "cool" qualities (shape, color, number, etc.), can enhance self-control and increase the delay. Optimal self-control and the longest delay to gratification can be achieved by directing attention to a competing item, especially the arousing, "hot" qualities of a competing item. For example, delays are increased when thinking about the taste and smell of popcorn while waiting to eat candy. This illustrates an individual's ability to manipulate their cognitive representation of external stimuli for goal-directed purposes.


title: Delayed gratification

text: Delaying gratification is the same as controlling the impulse for immediate gratification, which requires cognitive control. The ventral striatum, located in the midbrain, is the part of the limbic system that is the reward center as well as a pleasure center. The limbic system will always react to the potential for instant pleasure. To override this instinct, the prefrontal cortex, which is also associated with reasoning and rational thought, must be active. The prefrontal cortex is also the part of the brain that determines the focus of a person's attention, which enables a better framing that facilitates delayed gratification. During adolescence and early adulthood, the prefrontal cortex develops and matures to become more complicated and connected with the rest of the brain. Older children and adults find the deferment-of-gratification tasks easier than do young children for this reason. However, the relative ability to defer gratification remains stable throughout development. Children who can better control impulses grow up to be adults who also have better control. Practicing deferred gratification is quite beneficial to cognitive abilities throughout life.


title: Delayed gratification

text: Behaviorists focus on the acquisition and teaching of delayed gratification, and have developed therapeutic techniques for increasing ability to delay. Behavior analysts capitalize on the effective principles of reinforcement when shaping behavior by making rewards contingent on the person's current behavior, which promotes learning a delay of gratification. It is important to note that for a behavior modification regimen to succeed, the reward must have some value to the participant. Without a reward that is meaningful, providing delayed or immediate gratification serves little purpose, as the reward is not a strong reinforcer of the desired behavior.


title: Delayed gratification

text: Behavior theorists see delaying gratification as an adaptive skill. It has been shown that learning to delay gratification promotes positive social behavior, such as sharing and positive peer interactions. For example, students who learn to delay gratification are better able to complete their assigned activities. To put it simply, if someone undertakes an activity with the promise of a delayed reward after, the task's completion becomes more likely.


title: Delayed gratification

text: Behavioral researchers have found that a choice for instant versus delayed gratification is influenced by several factors including whether the reward is negative or positive reinforcement. A past study by Solnick et al., focused on an experiment where the main concentrations were time added to both conditions and the preference of the participants with experiencing a loud noise for variable amounts of time: 15, 30, 60, and 90 seconds. The buttons to turn off the noise were manipulated by one button turning off the noise for a short amount of time and the other turning the noise off for an extended time. The participants were found to be more willing to turn off the noise immediately for 90 seconds rather than turning it off for the 120 seconds after a 60-second delay was issued. Findings illustrate that participants chose not to delay their gratification for the relief of noise but rather instantly silence it for a shorter amount of time.


title: Delayed gratification

text: In a 2011 study, researchers tested to see if people would willingly choose between instant and delayed gratification by offering them a set amount of (hypothetical) money that they could receive presently, or telling them they could wait a month for more money. Results suggested that willingness to delay gratification depended on the amount of money being offered, but also showed wide individual variation in the threshold of later reward that was motivating enough to forgo the immediate reward. The subjective value of a reward can also stem from the way one describes the potential reward. As prospect theory states, people are heavily loss-averse. People tend to value a commodity more when it is considered to be something that can be lost or given up than when it is evaluated as a potential gain.


title: Delayed gratification

text: The duration of time until an eventual reward also affects participants' choice of immediate or delayed gratification. A 2001 study demonstrated that if a reward will not be granted for an extensive amount of time, such as 180–300 months (15–25 years), the monetary amount of the reward is inconsequential; instead, the bulk of the participants choose the immediate reward, even if their delayed reward would be quite large. Delayed gratification has its limits, and a delay can only be so long before it is judged to be not worth the effort it takes to wait.


title: Delayed gratification

text: In a Year 3 elementary classroom in South Wales a teacher was having difficulty keeping three girls on task during designated private study times. The teacher reached for aid from behavior analysts, and a delayed gratification behavior modification plan was put into place. The study gave limits on the numbers of questions the children could ask, and if they did not exceed the limit, they were given tokens for rewards. The token economy for rewards is an example of delayed gratification, by way of cool processing. Instead of having the girls focus on attention-seeking behaviors that distracted the teacher and the students, the teacher had them focus on how many questions they had, and if they needed to ask for help from the teacher. They also focused on gaining tokens rather than focusing on the final reward, which increased their delays. By giving the children this goal and the promise of positive reinforcement for good behavior, the girls dropped their rate of question-asking and attention-seeking.


title: Delayed gratification

text: Compared to neurotypical children, those with ADHD generally demonstrate greater impulsivity by being influenced by reward immediacy and quality more than by the frequency of reward and effort to obtain it. However, researchers have empirically shown that these impulsive behavior patterns can be changed through the implementation of a simple self-control training procedure in which reinforcer immediacy competes with the frequency, quantity or saliency of the reward. One study demonstrated that any verbal activity while waiting for reinforcement increases delay to gratification in participants with ADHD. In another study, three children diagnosed with ADHD and demonstrating impulsivity were trained to prefer reward rate and saliency more than immediacy through manipulation of the quality of the reinforcers and by systematically increasing the delay with a changing-criterion design. Post-assessment of the children illustrated that self-control can transfer to untrained dimensions of reinforcement.


title: Delayed gratification

text: At birth, infants are unable to wait for their wants and needs to be met and exhibit a defining lack of impulse control. With age, developing children are able to retain impulsivity but also gain control over their immediate desires and are increasingly able to prolong gratification. Developmental psychologists study the progression of impulse control and delay of gratification over the lifespan, including deficiencies in development that are closely related to attention deficits and behavior problems.


title: Delayed gratification

text: Children under five years old display the least effective strategies for delaying gratification, such as looking at the reward and thinking about its arousing features. By 5 years old, most children are able to demonstrate better self-control by recognizing the counter-productivity of focusing on the reward. Five-year-olds often choose instead to actively distract themselves or even use self-instructions to remind themselves of the contingency that waiting produces a reward of a greater value. Between 8 and 13 years old, children develop the cognitive ability to differentiate and employ abstract versus arousing thoughts in order to distract their minds from the reward and thereby increase the delay. Once delaying strategies are developed, the capacity to resist temptation is relatively stable throughout adulthood. Preschoolers' performance on delayed gratification tasks correlates with their adolescent performance on tasks designed to measure similar constructs and processing, which parallels the corresponding development of willpower and the fronto-striatal circuit (neural pathways that connect the frontal lobe to other brain regions). Declines in self-regulation and impulse control in old age predict corresponding declines in reward-delaying strategies, specifically reduced temporal discounting due to a decrease in cooling strategies.


title: Delayed gratification

text: Throughout 33 studies on gender differences, a small significant effect (r = .06) has been found indicating that a base-rate of 10% more females are able to choose delayed rewards than males, which is the typical percentage of difference found between the sexes on measures such as personality or social behavior. This effect may be related to the slight gender differences found in delay discounting (i.e., minimizing the value of a delayed reward) and higher levels of impulsivity and inattention in boys. Further studies are needed to analyze if this minute difference begins at a certain age (e.g., puberty) or if it has a stable magnitude throughout the lifespan. Some researchers suggest this gender difference may correspond with a mother's tendency to sacrifice her wants and needs in order to meet those of her child more frequently than a father does.


title: Delayed gratification

text: Self-control has been called the "master virtue" by clinical and social psychologists, suggesting that the ability to delay gratification plays a critical role in a person's overall psychological adjustment. People with better ability to delay gratification report higher wellbeing, self-esteem and openness to experience, as well as more productive ways of responding to anger and other provocations. Early delay ability has been shown to protect against the development of a variety of emotional vulnerabilities later in life, such as aggression and features of borderline personality disorder. Meanwhile, many maladaptive coping skills that characterize mental illness entail a difficulty delaying gratification. The tendency to choose short-term rewards at the expense of longer-term benefits permeates many forms of psychopathology.


title: Delayed gratification

text: A growing body of research suggests that self-control is akin to a muscle that can be strengthened through practice. In other words, self-control abilities are malleable, a fact that can be a source of hope for those who struggle with this skill. In psychotherapy, treatment for impulse-control issues often involves teaching individuals to realize the downsides of acting on immediate urges and in turn to practice delaying gratification. In anxiety disorders, this process occurs through exposure to a feared situation – which is very uncomfortable at first, but eventually becomes tolerable and even trains a person's mind and body that these situations are less threatening than originally feared. Exposure therapy is only effective if an individual can delay gratification and resist the urge to escape the situation early on. To shed insight on the tradeoff between short- and long-term gains, therapists might also help individuals construct a pro-con list of a certain behavior, with sections for short-term and long-term outcomes. For maladaptive coping behaviors such as self-injury, substance use or avoidance, there are generally no long-term pros. Meanwhile, abstinence from acting on a harmful urge (i.e., delayed gratification) generally results in long-term benefits. This realization can be a powerful impetus for change.


title: Delayed gratification

text: Externalizing disorders (i.e., acting-out disorders) show a clearer link to delayed gratification, since they more directly involve deficits in impulse control. For example, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and aggressive behavior are associated with difficulty delaying gratification in children and adolescents, as are substance abuse, gambling, and other addictive behaviors in adolescents and adults. In a 2010 study, teenagers and young adults with stronger abilities to delay gratification were less likely to drink alcohol, or to smoke cigarettes or cannabis. A 2011 study found that the contrast in delayed gratification between children with and without ADHD was no longer significant after statistically controlling for IQ (in other words, ADHD was not associated with delayed gratification above and beyond the influence of IQ). This may stem from the high correlation between intelligence and delayed gratification, and suggests that the tie between delayed gratification and ADHD could benefit from more investigation.


title: Delayed gratification

text: Difficulty delaying gratification also plays a role in internalizing disorders like anxiety and depression. A hallmark behavior in anxiety is avoidance of feared or anxiety-provoking situations. By seeking the immediate relief that comes with avoidance, a person is succumbing to the pull of instant gratification over the larger reward from overcoming the fear and anxiety that caused the avoidance. Procrastination, which is often a reflection of anxiety, is a clear example: a person avoids a dreaded task by engaging in a more enjoyable immediate activity instead. Obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD) is a more jarring case of this anxiety-related struggle to delay gratification; someone with OCD is unable to resist compulsions that temporarily mitigate the torture of obsessive thoughts, even though these compulsions do not banish the obsessions in the long run. One experiment, however, did not find any significant differences between samples with OCD and healthy controls in delayed gratification, while finding substantially improved delayed gratification among those with obsessive–compulsive personality disorder. Depression is also associated with lower capacity to delay gratification, though the direction of cause and effect is not clear. A depressed person who has difficulty pushing themself to engage in previously enjoyed activities is (deliberately or not) prioritizing short-term comfort and is demonstrating an impaired ability to delay gratification. There is evidence that individuals who engage in deliberate self-harm (i.e., cut themselves) are less able to tolerate emotional distress but are more able to tolerate physical pain. Thus it is argued that they injure themselves because they cannot delay gratification and need a way to end emotional pain quickly.


title: Delayed gratification

text: Sigmund Freud viewed the struggle to delay gratification as a person's efforts to overcome the instinctive, libidinal drive of the id. According to classic psychoanalytic theory, a person's psyche is composed of the id, ego and superego. The id is driven by the pleasure principle: it wants physical pleasure, and it wants it now. The ego, operating under the reality principle, serves to moderate the id's desire for instant gratification against the superego, which is guided by a person's internalized sense of morality. According to psychoanalytic theory, a person with difficulty delaying gratification is plagued by intrapsychic conflict – the ego cannot adequately regulate the battle between the id and the superego – and experiences psychological distress, often in the form of anxiety or "neurosis".