title: Google Fi

text: The service was launched for the Nexus 6, by invitation only, on April 22, 2015. The service was opened to the public on March 7, 2016, and support for additional devices, including the Pixel and Pixel XL smartphones, was introduced on October 4, 2016. On November 28, 2018, Google rebranded Project Fi as Google Fi and added support for more phones, including partial support for iPhones.


title: Google Fi

text: Google Fi was announced exclusively for the Nexus 6 smartphone on April 22, 2015, with support for Sprint and T-Mobile. Due to high demand at launch, the service required that users receive invitations, which were gradually released throughout summer 2015. The invitation system was dropped on March 7, 2016. U.S. Cellular was added on June 8, 2016. Three was added on July 12, 2016. In October 2016, Google added support for the Pixel and Pixel XL smartphones, and later introduced a Group Plan, letting subscribers add extra members to their plans.


title: Google Fi

text: On January 17, 2018, Google Fi announced bill protection which caps the charge for data at $60. If the data used is greater than 15GB, then Fi may slow the data speed to 256kbit/s. The user can avoid the slowdown by paying full price for the data used at $10 per GB. Bill protection also works with group plans, with a maximum charge of $85 for two people, $120 for three people, and $140 for four people. The rate for unlimited calls and texting is not affected by bill protection.


title: Google Fi

text: Google Fi automatically switches between networks depending on signal strength and speed. It can automatically connect to open Wi-Fi hotspots while securing data with encryption through an automatic VPN. Phone calls will seamlessly transition to a cellular network if Wi-Fi coverage is lost.


title: Google Fi

text: Google Fi users could originally use the now defunct Google Hangouts on any phone, tablet, or computer to call and text. Google Fi also supports VoLTE as part of a staged rollout.


title: Google Fi

text: A data-only SIM card can be used on supported tablets, smartphones, and car modems (e.g., Volvo). A data-only sim will have access to data, but will not be able to make calls or transmit texts across cellular networks


title: Google Fi

text: Monthly plans start at $20 per month and are flat fee–based, paid at the beginning of each monthly billing cycle. All plans include unlimited calls and messaging. Money for unused data is credited back to the user's account, while overuse of data results in a charge of $10 per gigabyte. When outside the United States, cellular phone calls cost $0.20 per minute, data costs the same $10 per gigabyte (i.e. there are no extra data charges outside of the US), and texting is free. Data is free at full speeds between 6 GB and 15 GB for the duration of the billing cycle with Bill Protection. After 15 GB, data continues to be free but will be throttled to unspecified speeds. A data-only SIM card can be used on tablets and other compatible devices, including the 2013 Nexus 7, Nexus 9, and iPad Air 2. The devices must be compatible with the T-Mobile network, and users can add up to 4 data-only SIM cards in one account (before July 2019 the limit was 9 data-only SIM cards in one account).


title: Google Fi

text: A Group Plan, which allows users, referred to as "managers", to add other people, referred to as "members", to their subscription, costs an additional $15 per user. Group Plans let managers view data usage by member, set data notifications, add monthly allowances, and pause members' data usage. In June 2017, Group Plans were updated to feature "Group Repay", in which Google Fi automatically calculates each of the members' individual shares of the bill and allows for easy payments. Such payments can be a fixed amount, an individual's total usage, or only for data usage above the standard data allotment.


title: Google Fi

text: Google Fi offers an 'Unlimited' Plan for its users for a flat rate of $70 per month with up to 50 GB of high speed data. After 50 GB, speeds are throttled to 256 kbit/s.


title: Google Fi

text: On both plans, users can pay an additional $10 per 1 GB until their next billing cycle. Fi's 'Unlimited' plan also includes 100 GB of Google One storage at no additional cost.


title: Google Fi

text: Nicole Lee of "Engadget" praised the service's plans, writing that "In the course of six months, I've barely touched my monthly 2 GB data allotment and frequently receive money back each month from unused data. I found myself paying a little more than $20 a month for Fi, which is the least I've paid for a cell phone service, ever." Lee liked the service's transition between Wi-Fi and cellular data.


title: Google Fi

text: JR Raphael of "Computerworld" also praised the pricing strategy and network transitions. Raphael also wrote that "Fi's customer support is [...] actually a pretty good experience", elaborating that "if you need extra help, both interfaces offer the ability to get 24/7 support from a real person via phone or email."


title: 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification – UEFA Group G

text: The 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification UEFA Group G was one of the ten UEFA groups in the World Cup qualification tournament to decide which teams would qualify for the 2022 FIFA World Cup finals tournament in Qatar. Group G consisted of six teams: Gibraltar, Latvia, Montenegro, the Netherlands, Norway and Turkey. The teams played against each other home-and-away in a round-robin format.


text: The group winners, Netherlands, qualified directly for the World Cup finals, while the runners-up, Turkey, advanced to the second round (play-offs).


text: The fixture list was confirmed by UEFA on 8 December 2020, the day following the draw. Times are CET/CEST, as listed by UEFA (local times, if different, are in parentheses).


title: Otherkin

text: Otherkin are a subculture of people who identify as not entirely human. Some otherkin believe their identity derives from reincarnation, a non-human soul, ancestry, symbolism, or metaphor. Others attribute it to unusual psychology and do not hold spiritual beliefs on the subject. Categories of otherkin include "Fictionkin", those who identify as fictional characters; "Conceptkin", who identify as abstract concepts; "Weatherkin", who identify as weather systems; as well as a number of other more obscure categories. Joseph P. Laycock, assistant professor of religious studies at Texas State University, considers otherkin beliefs to have a religious dimension, but asserts that "the argument that Otherkin identity claims conform to a substantive definition of religion is problematic". Many otherkin themselves reject the notion that being otherkin is a religious belief. A controversial but frequently made analogy is to gender dysphoria, leading to the terms "trans-species" or trans-speciesism and species dysphoria.


title: Otherkin

text: Otherkin may identify as mythical creatures, with others identifying as creatures from the natural world or from popular culture. Examples include: angels, demons, dragons, elves, fairies, sprites, wolves, foxes, horses, aliens, and fictional characters. Many otherkin believe in the existence of a multitude of parallel universes, and their belief in the existence of supernatural or sapient non-human beings is grounded in that idea.


title: Otherkin

text: With regard to their online communities, otherkin largely function without formal authority structures, and mostly focus on support and information gathering, often dividing into more specific groups based on kintype. There are occasional offline gatherings, but the otherkin network is mostly an online phenomenon.


title: Otherkin

text: Some otherkin claim to be especially empathic and attuned to nature. Some claim to be able to shapeshift mentally or astrally, meaning that they experience the sense of being in their particular form while not actually changing physically.


title: Otherkin

text: The therian and vampire subcultures are related to the otherkin community, and are considered part of it by most otherkin, but are culturally and historically distinct movements of their own, despite some overlap in membership. The word 'alterhuman' exists as an umbrella term which intends to encompass all of these subcultures, as well as others such as plurality.


title: Otherkin

text: "Otherkin" as an adjective was defined in the "Middle English Dictionary" (1981) as "a different or an additional kind of, other kinds of".


title: Otherkin

text: The earliest recorded use of the term "otherkin", in the context of a subculture, appeared in July 1990 and the variant "otherkind" was reported as early as April 1990. The word "otherkind" was initially coined from the word "elfinkind", to refer to non-elf others who joined the communities.


title: Otherkin

text: The oldest Internet resource for otherkin is the "Elfinkind Digest", a mailing list started in 1990 by a student at the University of Kentucky for "elves and interested observers". Also in the early 1990s, newsgroups such as alt.horror.werewolves and alt.fan.dragons on Usenet, which were initially created for fans of these creatures in the context of fantasy and horror literature and films, also developed followings of individuals who identified as mythological beings.


title: Otherkin

text: On 6 February 1995, a document titled the "Elven Nation Manifesto" was posted to Usenet, including the groups alt.pagan and alt.magick. Enough people contacted the original author of the Elven Nation post in good faith for a planned mailing list to spin off from it.


title: Otherkin

text: Rich Dansky (who worked on the development of "") said that after the game's release the darkfae-l listserv had "a rampaging debate... over how the folks at White Wolf had gotten so much of their existence right", adding, "Finally, one of the list members came to the obvious conclusion that we'd gotten it right because we ourselves were in fact changelings." Dansky denied being non-human.


title: Otherkin

text: Outside viewers may have varying opinions about people who identify as otherkin, ranging from considering them animal–human relationship pioneers to being psychologically dysfunctional. Reactions often range from disbelief to aggressive antagonism, especially online.


title: Otherkin

text: Otherkin have been called one of the world's most bizarre subcultures, and a religious movement (and a "quasi-religion") that "in some of its forms, largely only exists on the [Internet]". Although otherkin beliefs deviate from the definition of "religion", they share the primary interest in the paranormal. Religion scholar Joseph P. Laycock argues that the otherkin community serves existential and social functions commonly associated with religion, and regards it as an alternative "nomos" that sustains alternate ontologies.


title: Otherkin

text: According to Nick Mamatas, they represent a dissatisfaction with the modern world, and they have taken fairy lore out of its original context.


title: Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard

text: "Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard" is a song by American singer-songwriter Paul Simon. It was the second single from his second, self-titled studio album (1972), released on Columbia Records.


title: Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard

text: The song is about two boys ("Me and Julio") who have broken a law, although the exact law that has been broken is not stated in the song. When "the mama pajama" finds out what they have done, she goes to the police station to report the crime. The individuals are later arrested, but released when a "radical priest" intervenes.


title: Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard

text: The meaning and references in the song have long provoked debate. In a July 20, 1972 interview for "Rolling Stone", Jon Landau asked Simon: "What is it that the mama saw? The whole world wants to know." Simon replied "I have no idea what it is... Something sexual is what I imagine, but when I say 'something', I never bothered to figure out what it was. Didn't make any difference to me."


title: Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard

text: More recently, in October 2010, Simon described the song as "a bit of inscrutable doggerel", while the "radical priest" has been interpreted as a reference to Daniel Berrigan, who was featured on the cover of "Time" on January 25, 1971, near when the song was written.


title: Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard

text: The song mentions "Rosie, the queen of Corona", referring to Corona, a neighborhood in Queens near where Simon grew up.


title: Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard

text: The percussion sound in the song, unusual for American pop, was created with a cuica, a Brazilian friction drum instrument often used in samba music.


title: Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard

text: In 1988, Simon released a video for the song to promote his greatest hits compilation "Negotiations and Love Songs". The video was filmed at Mathews-Palmer Park in Hell's Kitchen, which was standing in for Halsey Junior High School in Forest Hills, Queens, the neighborhood in which Simon grew up and met Art Garfunkel in high school. Many of the children featured in the video were from that same school; Kia Jeffries, who sang on Simon's "The Rhythm of the Saints" album and cast the video, had attended as well.


title: Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard

text: It features an introduction by hip hop MC's (and then-fellow Warner Bros. Records label mates) Big Daddy Kane and Biz Markie. Main Source member Large Professor also makes a cameo towards the end. The video depicts adults interacting with the youth of an inner-city schoolyard. It shows Simon playing basketball and stickball with the children, and it also features basketball player Spud Webb, baseball player Mickey Mantle, and football coach-commentator John Madden giving tips to young athletes.


title: Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard

text: German singer Peter Rainford covered the song in 1973, releasing the single entitled as "Lady Pyjama" in Germany and The Netherlands. It was translated into German and arranged by Uli Roever.


title: Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard

text: The song appears in a montage in the 2001 film "The Royal Tenenbaums" directed by filmmaker Wes Anderson. It also appears in the film "A Home at the End of the World", over the opening credits of "Maid in Manhattan", in "The Simpsons" episode "Holidays of Future Passed", within the film "The Muppets", and in the trailer for "Missing Link".


title: Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard

text: In 1977, Simon himself performed the song on "Sesame Street", along with a girl who backed him up singing "Dance dance dance all right/dance dance dance all right/Everybody dance," etc.


title: Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard

text: The song plays in the second episode of "Saturday Night Live", during a "Weekend Update" segment where Simon plays basketball. It was also featured in an SNL skit paying homage to Wes Anderson as a trailer of a horror movie (titled "The Midnight Coterie of Sinister Intruders") in his distinct style.


title: Horizontal gene transfer

text: Horizontal gene transfer (HGT) or lateral gene transfer (LGT) is the movement of genetic material between unicellular and/or multicellular organisms other than by the ("vertical") transmission of DNA from parent to offspring (reproduction). HGT is an important factor in the evolution of many organisms. HGT is influencing scientific understanding of higher order evolution while more significantly shifting perspectives on bacterial evolution.


title: Horizontal gene transfer

text: Horizontal gene transfer is the primary mechanism for the spread of antibiotic resistance in bacteria, and plays an important role in the evolution of bacteria that can degrade novel compounds such as human-created pesticides and in the evolution, maintenance, and transmission of virulence.<ref name="doi10.3389/fcimb.2012.00161"></ref> It often involves temperate bacteriophages and plasmids. Genes responsible for antibiotic resistance in one species of bacteria can be transferred to another species of bacteria through various mechanisms of HGT such as transformation, transduction and conjugation, subsequently arming the antibiotic resistant genes' recipient against antibiotics. The rapid spread of antibiotic resistance genes in this manner is becoming a challenge to manage in the field of medicine. Ecological factors may also play a role in the HGT of antibiotic resistant genes.


title: Horizontal gene transfer

text: Horizontal gene transfer is recognized as a pervasive evolutionary process that distributes genes between divergent prokaryotic lineages and can also involve eukaryotes. It is postulated that HGT promotes the maintenance of a universal life biochemistry and, subsequently, the universality of the genetic code.


title: Horizontal gene transfer

text: Griffith's experiment, reported in 1928 by Frederick Griffith, was the first experiment suggesting that bacteria are capable of transferring genetic information through a process known as transformation. Griffith's findings were followed by research in the late 1930s and early 40s that isolated DNA as the material that communicated this genetic information.


title: Horizontal gene transfer

text: Horizontal genetic transfer was then described in Seattle in 1951, in a paper demonstrating that the transfer of a viral gene into "Corynebacterium diphtheriae" created a virulent strain from a non-virulent strain, also simultaneously solving the riddle of diphtheria (that patients could be infected with the bacteria but not have any symptoms, and then suddenly convert later or never), and giving the first example for the relevance of the lysogenic cycle. Inter-bacterial gene transfer was first described in Japan in a 1959 publication that demonstrated the transfer of antibiotic resistance between different species of bacteria. In the mid-1980s, Syvanen predicted that lateral gene transfer existed, had biological significance, and was involved in shaping evolutionary history from the beginning of life on Earth.


title: Horizontal gene transfer

text: As Jian, Rivera and Lake (1999) put it: "Increasingly, studies of genes and genomes are indicating that considerable horizontal transfer has occurred between prokaryotes" (see also Lake and Rivera, 2007). The phenomenon appears to have had some significance for unicellular eukaryotes as well. As Bapteste et al. (2005) observe, "additional evidence suggests that gene transfer might also be an important evolutionary mechanism in protist evolution."


title: Horizontal gene transfer

text: Grafting of one plant to another can transfer chloroplasts (organelles in plant cells that conduct photosynthesis), mitochondrial DNA, and the entire cell nucleus containing the genome to potentially make a new species. Some Lepidoptera (e.g. monarch butterflies and silkworms) have been genetically modified by horizontal gene transfer from the wasp bracovirus. Bites from insects in the family Reduviidae (assassin bugs) can, via a parasite, infect humans with the trypanosomal Chagas disease, which can insert its DNA into the human genome. It has been suggested that lateral gene transfer to humans from bacteria may play a role in cancer.


title: Horizontal gene transfer

text: Aaron Richardson and Jeffrey D. Palmer state: "Horizontal gene transfer (HGT) has played a major role in bacterial evolution and is fairly common in certain unicellular eukaryotes. However, the prevalence and importance of HGT in the evolution of multicellular eukaryotes remain unclear."


title: Horizontal gene transfer

text: Due to the increasing amount of evidence suggesting the importance of these phenomena for evolution (see below) molecular biologists such as Peter Gogarten have described horizontal gene transfer as "A New Paradigm for Biology".


title: Horizontal gene transfer

text: A transposable element (TE) (also called a transposon or jumping gene) is a mobile segment of DNA that can sometimes pick up a resistance gene and insert it into a plasmid or chromosome, thereby inducing horizontal gene transfer of antibiotic resistance.


title: Horizontal gene transfer

text: Horizontal transposon transfer (HTT) refers to the passage of pieces of DNA that are characterized by their ability to move from one locus to another between genomes by means other than parent-to-offspring inheritance. Horizontal gene transfer has long been thought to be crucial to prokaryotic evolution, but there is a growing amount of data showing that HTT is a common and widespread phenomenon in eukaryote evolution as well. On the transposable element side, spreading between genomes via horizontal transfer may be viewed as a strategy to escape purging due to purifying selection, mutational decay and/or host defense mechanisms.


title: Horizontal gene transfer

text: HTT can occur with any type of transposable elements, but DNA transposons and LTR retroelements are more likely to be capable of HTT because both have a stable, double-stranded DNA intermediate that is thought to be sturdier than the single-stranded RNA intermediate of non-LTR retroelements, which can be highly degradable. Non-autonomous elements may be less likely to transfer horizontally compared to autonomous elements because they do not encode the proteins required for their own mobilization. The structure of these non-autonomous elements generally consists of an intronless gene encoding a transposase protein, and may or may not have a promoter sequence. Those that do not have promoter sequences encoded within the mobile region rely on adjacent host promoters for expression. Horizontal transfer is thought to play an important role in the TE life cycle.


title: Horizontal gene transfer

text: HTT has been shown to occur between species and across continents in both plants and animals (Ivancevic et al. 2013), though some TEs have been shown to more successfully colonize the genomes of certain species over others. Both spatial and taxonomic proximity of species has been proposed to favor HTTs in plants and animals. It is unknown how the density of a population may affect the rate of HTT events within a population, but close proximity due to parasitism and cross contamination due to crowding have been proposed to favor HTT in both plants and animals. Successful transfer of a transposable element requires delivery of DNA from donor to host cell (and to the germ line for multi-cellular organisms), followed by integration into the recipient host genome. Though the actual mechanism for the transportation of TEs from donor cells to host cells is unknown, it is established that naked DNA and RNA can circulate in bodily fluid. Many proposed vectors include arthropods, viruses, freshwater snails (Ivancevic et al. 2013), endosymbiotic bacteria, and intracellular parasitic bacteria. In some cases, even TEs facilitate transport for other TEs.


title: Horizontal gene transfer

text: The arrival of a new TE in a host genome can have detrimental consequences because TE mobility may induce mutation. However, HTT can also be beneficial by introducing new genetic material into a genome and promoting the shuffling of genes and TE domains among hosts, which can be co-opted by the host genome to perform new functions. Moreover, transposition activity increases the TE copy number and generates chromosomal rearrangement hotspots. HTT detection is a difficult task because it is an ongoing phenomenon that is constantly changing in frequency of occurrence and composition of TEs inside host genomes. Furthermore, few species have been analyzed for HTT, making it difficult to establish patterns of HTT events between species. These issues can lead to the underestimation or overestimation of HTT events between ancestral and current eukaryotic species.


title: Horizontal gene transfer

text: Horizontal gene transfer is typically inferred using bioinformatics methods, either by identifying atypical sequence signatures ("parametric" methods) or by identifying strong discrepancies between the evolutionary history of particular sequences compared to that of their hosts. The transferred gene (xenolog) found in the receiving species is more closely related to the genes of the donor species than would be expected.


title: Horizontal gene transfer

text: The virus called "Mimivirus" infects amoebae. Another virus, called "Sputnik", also infects amoebae, but it cannot reproduce unless mimivirus has already infected the same cell. "Sputnik's genome reveals further insight into its biology. Although 13 of its genes show little similarity to any other known genes, three are closely related to mimivirus and mamavirus genes, perhaps cannibalized by the tiny virus as it packaged up particles sometime in its history. This suggests that the satellite virus could perform horizontal gene transfer between viruses, paralleling the way that bacteriophages ferry genes between bacteria." Horizontal transfer is also seen between geminiviruses and tobacco plants.


title: Horizontal gene transfer

text: Horizontal gene transfer is common among bacteria, even among very distantly related ones. This process is thought to be a significant cause of increased drug resistance when one bacterial cell acquires resistance, and the resistance genes are transferred to other species. Transposition and horizontal gene transfer, along with strong natural selective forces have led to multi-drug resistant strains of "S. aureus" and many other pathogenic bacteria. Horizontal gene transfer also plays a role in the spread of virulence factors, such as exotoxins and exoenzymes, amongst bacteria. A prime example concerning the spread of exotoxins is the adaptive evolution of Shiga toxins in "E. coli" through horizontal gene transfer via transduction with "Shigella" species of bacteria. Strategies to combat certain bacterial infections by targeting these specific virulence factors and mobile genetic elements have been proposed. For example, horizontally transferred genetic elements play important roles in the virulence of "E. coli", "Salmonella", "Streptococcus" and "Clostridium perfringens".


title: Horizontal gene transfer

text: In prokaryotes, restriction-modification systems are known to provide immunity against horizontal gene transfer and in stabilizing mobile genetic elements. Genes encoding restriction modification systems have been reported to move between prokaryotic genomes within mobile genetic elements (MGE) such as plasmids, prophages, insertion sequences/transposons, integrative conjugative elements (ICE), and integrons. Still, they are more frequently a chromosomal-encoded barrier to MGE than an MGE-encoded tool for cell infection.


title: Horizontal gene transfer

text: Lateral gene transfer via a mobile genetic element, namely the integrated conjugative element (ICE) "Bs1" has been reported for its role in the global DNA damage SOS response of the gram positive "Bacillus subtilis". Furthermore, it has been linked with the radiation and desiccation resistance of "Bacillus pumilus" SAFR-032 spores, isolated from spacecraft cleanroom facilities.


title: Horizontal gene transfer

text: Transposon insertion elements have been reported to increase the fitness of gram-negative "E. coli" strains through either major transpositions or genome rearrangements, and increasing mutation rates. In a study on the effects of long-term exposure of simulated microgravity on non-pathogenic "E. coli", the results showed transposon insertions occur at loci, linked to SOS stress response. When the same "E. coli" strain was exposed to a combination of simulated microgravity and trace (background) levels of (the broad spectrum) antibiotic (chloramphenicol), the results showed transposon-mediated rearrangements (TMRs), disrupting genes involved in bacterial adhesion, and deleting an entire segment of several genes involved with motility and chemotaxis. Both these studies have implications for microbial growth, adaptation to and antibiotic resistance in real time space conditions.


title: Horizontal gene transfer

text: Horizontal gene transfer is particularly active in bacterial genomes around the production of secondary or specialized metabolites. This is clearly exhibited within certain groups of bacteria including "P. aeruginosa" and "actinomycetales", an order of "Actinomycetota." Polyketide synthases (PKSs) and biosynthetic gene clusters provide modular organizations of associated genes making these bacteria well-adapted to acquire and discard helpful modular modifications via HGT. Certain areas of genes known as hotspots further increase the likelihood of horizontally transferred secondary metabolite-producing genes. The promiscuity of enzymes is a reoccurring theme in this particular theatre.


title: Horizontal gene transfer

text: Natural transformation is a bacterial adaptation for DNA transfer (HGT) that depends on the expression of numerous bacterial genes whose products are responsible for this process. In general, transformation is a complex, energy-requiring developmental process. In order for a bacterium to bind, take up and recombine exogenous DNA into its chromosome, it must become competent, that is, enter a special physiological state. Competence development in "Bacillus subtilis" requires expression of about 40 genes. The DNA integrated into the host chromosome is usually (but with infrequent exceptions) derived from another bacterium of the same species, and is thus homologous to the resident chromosome. The capacity for natural transformation occurs in at least 67 prokaryotic species.


title: Horizontal gene transfer

text: Competence for transformation is typically induced by high cell density and/or nutritional limitation, conditions associated with the stationary phase of bacterial growth. Competence appears to be an adaptation for DNA repair. Transformation in bacteria can be viewed as a primitive sexual process, since it involves interaction of homologous DNA from two individuals to form recombinant DNA that is passed on to succeeding generations. Although transduction is the form of HGT most commonly associated with bacteriophages, certain phages may also be able to promote transformation.


title: Horizontal gene transfer

text: Conjugation in "Mycobacterium smegmatis", like conjugation in "E. coli", requires stable and extended contact between a donor and a recipient strain, is DNase resistant, and the transferred DNA is incorporated into the recipient chromosome by homologous recombination. However, unlike "E. coli" high frequency of recombination conjugation (Hfr), mycobacterial conjugation is a type of HGT that is chromosome rather than plasmid based. Furthermore, in contrast to "E. coli" (Hfr) conjugation, in "M. smegmatis" all regions of the chromosome are transferred with comparable efficiencies. Substantial blending of the parental genomes was found as a result of conjugation, and this blending was regarded as reminiscent of that seen in the meiotic products of sexual reproduction.


title: Horizontal gene transfer

text: The archaeon "Sulfolobus solfataricus", when UV irradiated, strongly induces the formation of type IV pili which then facilitates cellular aggregation. Exposure to chemical agents that cause DNA damage also induces cellular aggregation. Other physical stressors, such as temperature shift or pH, do not induce aggregation, suggesting that DNA damage is a specific inducer of cellular aggregation.


title: Horizontal gene transfer

text: UV-induced cellular aggregation mediates intercellular chromosomal HGT marker exchange with high frequency, and UV-induced cultures display recombination rates that exceed those of uninduced cultures by as much as three orders of magnitude. "S. solfataricus" cells aggregate preferentially with other cells of their own species. Frols et al. and Ajon et al. suggested that UV-inducible DNA transfer is likely an important mechanism for providing increased repair of damaged DNA via homologous recombination. This process can be regarded as a simple form of sexual interaction.


title: Horizontal gene transfer

text: Another thermophilic species, "Sulfolobus acidocaldarius", is able to undergo HGT. "S. acidocaldarius" can exchange and recombine chromosomal markers at temperatures up to 84 °C. UV exposure induces pili formation and cellular aggregation. Cells with the ability to aggregate have greater survival than mutants lacking pili that are unable to aggregate. The frequency of recombination is increased by DNA damage induced by UV-irradiation and by DNA damaging chemicals.


title: Horizontal gene transfer

text: The "ups" operon, containing five genes, is highly induced by UV irradiation. The proteins encoded by the "ups" operon are employed in UV-induced pili assembly and cellular aggregation leading to intercellular DNA exchange and homologous recombination. Since this system increases the fitness of "S. acidocaldarius" cells after UV exposure, Wolferen et al. considered that transfer of DNA likely takes place in order to repair UV-induced DNA damages by homologous recombination.


title: Horizontal gene transfer

text: "Sequence comparisons suggest recent horizontal transfer of many genes among diverse species including across the boundaries of phylogenetic 'domains'. Thus determining the phylogenetic history of a species can not be done conclusively by determining evolutionary trees for single genes."


title: Horizontal gene transfer

text: Through research into the growing issue of antibiotic resistance certain compounds have been observed to promote horizontal gene transfer. Antibiotics given to bacteria at non-lethal levels have been known to be a cause of antibiotic resistance but emerging research is now showing that certain non-antibiotic pharmaceuticals (ibuprofen, naproxen, gemfibrozil, diclofenac, propranolol, etc.) also have a role in promoting antibiotic resistance through their ability to promote horizontal gene transfer (HGT) of genes responsible for antibiotic resistance. The transfer of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) through conjugation is significantly accelerated when donor cells with plasmids and recipient cells are introduced to each other in the presence of one of the pharmaceuticals. Non-antibiotic pharmaceuticals were also found to cause some responses in bacteria similar to those responses to antibiotics, such as increasing expression of the genes lexA, umuC, umuD and soxR involved in the bacteria's SOS response as well as other genes also expressed during exposure to antibiotics. These findings are from 2021 and due to the widespread use of non-antibiotic pharmaceuticals, more research needs to be done in order to further understanding on the issue.


title: Horizontal gene transfer

text: Alongside non-antibiotic pharmaceuticals, other compounds relevant to antibiotic resistance have been tested such as malachite green, ethylbenzene, styrene, 2,4-dichloroaniline, trioxymethylene, o-xylene solutions, p-nitrophenol (PNP), p-aminophenol (PAP), and phenol (PhOH). It is a global concern that ARGs have been found in wastewater treatment plants Textile wastewater has been found to contain 3- to 13-fold higher abundance of mobile genetic elements than other samples of wastewater. The cause of this is the organic compounds used for textile dying (o-xylene, ethylbenzene, trioxymethylene, styrene, 2,4-dichloroaniline, and malachite green) raising the frequency of conjugative transfer when bacteria and plasmid (with donor) are introduced in the presence of these molecules. When textile wastewater combines with wastewater from domestic sewage, the ARGs present in wastewater are transferred at a higher rate due to the addition of textile dyeing compounds increasing the occurrence of HGT.


title: Horizontal gene transfer

text: Other organic pollutants commonly found in wastewater have been the subject of similar experiments. A 2021 study used similar methods of  using plasmid in a donor and mixing that with a receptor in the presence of compound in order to test horizontal gene transfer of antibiotic resistance genes but this time in the presence of phenolic compounds. Phenolic compounds are commonly found in wastewater and have been found to change functions and structures of the microbial communities during the wastewater treatment process. Additionally, HGT increases in frequency in the presence of the compounds p-nitrophenol (PNP), p-aminophenol (PAP), and phenol. These compounds result in a 2- to 9-fold increase in HGT (p-nitrophenol being on the lower side of 2-fold increases and p-aminophenol and phenol having a maximum increase of 9-fold). This increase in HGT is on average less than the compounds ibuprofen, naproxen, gemfibrozil, diclofenac, propranolol, o-xylene, ethylbenzene, trioxymethylene, styrene, 2,4-dichloroaniline, and malachite green but their increases is still significant. The study that came to this conclusion is similar to the study on horizontal gene transfer and non-antibiotic pharmaceuticals in that it was done in 2021 and leaves room for more research, specifically in the focus of the study which is activated sludge.


title: Horizontal gene transfer

text: Heavy metals have also been found to promote conjugative transfer of antibiotic resistance genes. The paper that led to the discovery of this was done in 2017 during the emerging field of horizontal gene transfer assisting compound research. Metals assist in the spread of antibiotic resistance through both co-resistance as well as cross-resistance mechanisms. In quantities relevant to the environment, Cu(II), Ag(I), Cr(VI), and Zn(II) promote HGT from donor and receptor strains of E. coli. The presence of these metals triggered SOS response from bacterial cells and made the cells more permeable. These are the mechanisms that make even low levels of heavy metal pollution in the environment impact HGT and therefore the spread of ARGs.


title: Horizontal gene transfer

text: Genetic engineering is essentially horizontal gene transfer, albeit with synthetic expression cassettes. The Sleeping Beauty transposon system (SB) was developed as a synthetic gene transfer agent that was based on the known abilities of Tc1/mariner transposons to invade genomes of extremely diverse species. The SB system has been used to introduce genetic sequences into a wide variety of animal genomes.


title: Horizontal gene transfer

text: Horizontal gene transfer is a potential confounding factor in inferring phylogenetic trees based on the sequence of one gene. For example, given two distantly related bacteria that have exchanged a gene a phylogenetic tree including those species will show them to be closely related because that gene is the same even though most other genes are dissimilar. For this reason, it is often ideal to use other information to infer robust phylogenies such as the presence or absence of genes or, more commonly, to include as wide a range of genes for phylogenetic analysis as possible.


title: Horizontal gene transfer

text: For example, the most common gene to be used for constructing phylogenetic relationships in prokaryotes is the 16S ribosomal RNA gene since its sequences tend to be conserved among members with close phylogenetic distances, but variable enough that differences can be measured. However, in recent years it has also been argued that 16s rRNA genes can also be horizontally transferred. Although this may be infrequent, the validity of 16s rRNA-constructed phylogenetic trees must be reevaluated.


title: Horizontal gene transfer

text: Biologist Johann Peter Gogarten suggests "the original metaphor of a tree no longer fits the data from recent genome research" therefore "biologists should use the metaphor of a mosaic to describe the different histories combined in individual genomes and use the metaphor of a net to visualize the rich exchange and cooperative effects of HGT among microbes". There exist several methods to infer such phylogenetic networks.


title: Horizontal gene transfer

text: Using single genes as phylogenetic markers, it is difficult to trace organismal phylogeny in the presence of horizontal gene transfer. Combining the simple coalescence model of cladogenesis with rare HGT horizontal gene transfer events suggest there was no single most recent common ancestor that contained all of the genes ancestral to those shared among the three domains of life. Each contemporary molecule has its own history and traces back to an individual molecule cenancestor. However, these molecular ancestors were likely to be present in different organisms at different times."


title: Horizontal gene transfer

text: Horizontal gene transfer poses a possible challenge to the concept of the last universal common ancestor (LUCA) at the root of the tree of life first formulated by Carl Woese, which led him to propose the Archaea as a third domain of life. Indeed, it was while examining the new three-domain view of life that horizontal gene transfer arose as a complicating issue: "Archaeoglobus fulgidus" was seen as an anomaly with respect to a phylogenetic tree based upon the encoding for the enzyme HMGCoA reductase—the organism in question is a definite Archaean, with all the cell lipids and transcription machinery that are expected of an Archaean, but whose HMGCoA genes are of bacterial origin. Scientists are broadly agreed on symbiogenesis, that mitochondria in eukaryotes derived from alpha-proteobacterial cells and that chloroplasts came from ingested cyanobacteria, and other gene transfers may have affected early eukaryotes. (In contrast, multicellular eukaryotes have mechanisms to prevent horizontal gene transfer, including separated germ cells.) If there had been continued and extensive gene transfer, there would be a complex network with many ancestors, instead of a tree of life with sharply delineated lineages leading back to a LUCA. However, a LUCA can be identified, so horizontal transfers must have been relatively limited.


title: Horizontal gene transfer

text: It has been remarked that, despite the complications, the detection of horizontal gene transfers brings valuable phylogenetic and dating information.


title: Horizontal gene transfer

text: The acquisition of new genes has the potential to disorganize the other genetic elements and hinder the function of the bacterial cell, thus affecting the competitiveness of bacteria. Consequently, bacterial adaptation lies in a conflict between the advantages of acquiring beneficial genes, and the need to maintain the organization of the rest of its genome. Horizontally transferred genes are typically concentrated in only ~1% of the chromosome (in regions called hotspots). This concentration increases with genome size and with the rate of transfer. Hotspots diversify by rapid gene turnover; their chromosomal distribution depends on local contexts (neighboring core genes), and content in mobile genetic elements. Hotspots concentrate most changes in gene repertoires, reduce the trade-off between genome diversification and organization, and should be treasure troves of strain-specific adaptive genes. Most mobile genetic elements and antibiotic resistance genes are in hotspots, but many hotspots lack recognizable mobile genetic elements and exhibit frequent homologous recombination at flanking core genes. Overrepresentation of hotspots with fewer mobile genetic elements in naturally transformable bacteria suggests that homologous recombination and horizontal gene transfer are tightly linked in genome evolution.


title: Queen of the Desert (film)

text: Queen of the Desert is a 2015 American epic biographical drama film written and directed by Werner Herzog and is based on the life of British traveller, writer, archaeologist, explorer, cartographer and political officer Gertrude Bell. The film follows Bell's life chronologically, from her early twenties until her death. It was Herzog's first feature film in six years after his 2009 film "My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done?"


title: Queen of the Desert (film)

text: The film stars Nicole Kidman, James Franco, Damian Lewis and Robert Pattinson. After going through many delays and casting problems, production finally took place from December 2013 to March 2014 in Algeria, Jordan and England. It was screened in the main competition section of the 65th Berlin International Film Festival and had its premiere on February 6, 2015. It had a theatrical release in Germany on September 3, 2015.


title: Queen of the Desert (film)

text: The film received mostly negative reviews from critics and was also a major financial disappointment, grossing $2 million against a $36 million production budget.


title: Queen of the Desert (film)

text: Gertrude Bell, a daughter of wealthy British parents, has no interest in the social life of the London elite. Balls, receptions, and a life of privilege bring her only boredom. Aspiring to some usefulness in her life, Gertrude decides to join her uncle, who occupies a high diplomatic position in Tehran. There the young lady not only encounters the Near East but also falls in love with an embassy employee, Henry Cadogan. However, their romance does not last long as her parents consider the young man a poor matrimonial choice for their daughter and forbid the marriage. Devastated, Henry dies by suicide, unable to renounce his true love. For the remainder of her life Gertrude Bell completely devotes herself to exploring and writing about the Near East and her knowledge of the tribal leaders is used by the British to establish the Kingdoms of Iraq, Jordan and Saudi Arabia.


title: Queen of the Desert (film)

text: Talking about casting difficulties and delay in shooting of the film, Herzog said, "There are some actors I’d very much like to be in the film and it’s problematic to get them in the same place at the same time." Naomi Watts was originally cast in the role of Gertrude Bell but was later replaced by Nicole Kidman. Kidman, talking about her role, said, "She's the female Lawrence of Arabia. She was English, and basically defined the borders between Iraq and Jordan that exist today, borders that she negotiated between Churchill and different Arab leaders. She went out to the desert with the Bedouin and all the different tribes that were feuding at the turn of the 20th century." Jude Law was initially cast in the role of Henry Cadogan but later dropped out due to scheduling conflicts and was replaced by James Franco.


title: Queen of the Desert (film)

text: Robert Pattinson and Damian Lewis joined the cast of the film as T. E. Lawrence and Charles Doughty-Wylie, respectively. On casting Pattinson in the film, Herzog said that " I needed an englishman who still looks like a schoolboy but which is very smart. He plays Lawrence of Arabia, but at the age of 22, on an archeological site. Kidman, who plays the main role is wondering what that kid has to do in a place like this, and an archeologist tells her that this kid has a PhD." Pattinson talking about portraying Lawrence, said that "It’s sort of close to the real guy, it’s certainly not [the film] "Lawrence of Arabia"-like, at the same time the guy was really small and I’m not physically kind of right for the part, but I think I have quite a good little handle of who he is. After I got cast I started researching and there are certain things you can’t do as I’m just not physically the same so I had to invent it a little bit, and it’s a small part as well. The film’s about Gertrude Bell, it’s really not about making "Lawrence of Arabia"." Nick N. Raslan, one of the producers of the film, also appeared the film in a cameo appearance.


title: Queen of the Desert (film)

text: Principal photography began on December 20, 2013. Herzog shot background scenes and establishing shots without the principal cast in Merzouga, Morocco and Petra, Jordan. Principal photography with the main cast started in Merzouga on January 13, 2014. Filming also took place at Marrakesh and Erfoud and continued till February 26, 2014, in Ouarzazate, Morocco. After Morocco, filming moved to London and finished on March 6, 2014.


title: Queen of the Desert (film)

text: A major portion of filming took place in Morocco. Fifty actors (apart from main cast), more than 1,500 extras and 65 technicians, all Moroccan, participated.


title: Queen of the Desert (film)

text: The film premiered at 65th Berlin International Film Festival in February 2015. It had a theatrical release in Germany on September 3, 2015. A different cut of the film was screened at AFI Fest in November 2015. Originally, Atlas Distribution Co. acquired the US distribution rights of the film and planned to have a wide release in fall 2015. However, IFC Films later acquired distribution rights with a planned spring 2017 release.


title: Queen of the Desert (film)

text: The film received mostly negative reviews from critics, but the performance of Kidman was praised. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a score of 15% based on 59 reviews with a weighted average rating of 4.2/10 and the site's consensus: ""Queen of the Desert" unites some undeniably talented professionals, but it's difficult to discern what drew them together – or understand how its compelling real-life story became such a muddled mess." The critical aggregator website Metacritic holds the film at a normalized score of 39 out of 100 based on 18 reviews.


title: Queen of the Desert (film)

text: Peter Bradshaw of "The Guardian" gave the film two out of five stars, saying that "Werner Herzog’s biopic of English adventurer Gertrude Bell is impeccably mounted, competently made, entirely respectable – and a bit of a plod" and praised Kidman and Pattinson that "she (Kidman) does a perfectly reasonable job with this difficult role and she is well cast" and "Pattinson carried off this (minor) role well enough." Peter Debruge of "Variety" called the film a "compelling but dramatically underpowered epic" and notes that "Kidman convincingly manages to play Bell as a delicate yet determined twentysomething, forging her way across untamed deserts, but still fragile enough to fall in love on two separate occasions."


title: Queen of the Desert (film)

text: David Rooney of "The Hollywood Reporter" called it "A passionless trudge that lacks both sweep and psychological complexity", but ultimately praised Kidman and Pattinson that "(Pattinson has) brief but significant appearances" and "she (Kidman) carries the film more than competently." Jessica Kiang of "Indiewire" in her review said that ""Queen of the Desert" is such a disappointment when you consider the wild portraits of pioneers that Herzog has given us before, that he's so reverent here." And praising the cast added that "(Pattinson, out of all) of the actors not overwhelmed by the heavy sense" and "(Lewis) who handles the role of the married consul, whose amused admiration for Bell flares into love with a deftness that had us palpably relaxing during his scenes."


title: Queen of the Desert (film)

text: Mark Adams of "Screen International" gave the film a mixed review, as he notes that "While enjoyable in parts, its episodic pacing lets down the real-life story of a bold and remarkable woman." Geoffrey Macnab of "The Independent" said that "This is the closest Herzog has come to making a conventional Hollywood movie – what it lacks is the perversity, drive and wildness that are usually his hallmark."


title: Black Tom explosion

text: The Black Tom explosion was an act of sabotage by agents of the German Empire, to destroy U.S.-made munitions that were to be supplied to the Allies in World War I. The explosions, which occurred on July 30, 1916, in New York Harbor, killed four people and destroyed some $20,000,000 ($ million in 2022 dollars) worth of military goods. This incident, which happened prior to U.S. entry into World War I, also damaged the Statue of Liberty. It was one of the largest artificial non-nuclear explosions in history.


title: Black Tom explosion

text: The term "Black Tom" originally referred to an island in New York Harbor next to Liberty Island. The island was artificial, created by land fill around a rock of the same name, which had been a local hazard to navigation. Being largely built up from city refuse, it developed a reputation as an unseemly environmental hazard. On January 26, 1875, an accidental explosion killed four. By 1880, the island was transformed into a promontory, and a causeway and railroad had been built to connect it with the mainland to use as a shipping depot. Between 1905 and 1916, the Lehigh Valley Railroad, which owned the island and causeway, expanded the island with land fill, and the entire area was annexed by Jersey City. A mile-long pier on the island housed a depot and warehouses for the National Dock and Storage Company. Black Tom Island is now part of Liberty State Park.


title: Black Tom explosion

text: Black Tom was a major munitions depot for the Northeastern United States. Until April 6, 1917, the United States was neutral in respect to World War I and its munitions companies earlier in the war could sell to any buyer. Due to the blockade of Germany by the Royal Navy, however, only the Allied Governments were able to purchase American munitions. As a result, Imperial Germany sent spies to the United States to disrupt by any means necessary the production and delivery of war munitions that were intended to kill German soldiers on the battlefields of the Great War.


title: Black Tom explosion

text: On the night of the Black Tom explosion, July 30, 1916, about of small arms and artillery ammunition were stored at the depot in freight cars and on barges, including of TNT on Johnson Barge No. 17. All were waiting to be shipped to Russia. Jersey City's Commissioner of Public Safety, Frank Hague, later said he had been told the barge was "tied up at Black Tom to avoid a twenty-five dollar charge".


title: Black Tom explosion

text: After midnight, a series of small fires were discovered on the pier. Some guards fled, fearing an explosion. Others attempted to fight the fires and eventually called the Jersey City Fire Department. At 2:08 am, the first and largest of the explosions took place, the second and smaller explosion occurring around 2:40 am. A notable location for one of the first major explosions was around the Johnson Barge No. 17, which contained 50 tons of TNT and 417 cases of detonating fuses. The explosion created a detonation wave that traveled at with enough force to lift firefighters out of their boots and into the air.


title: Black Tom explosion

text: Fragments from the explosion traveled long distances: some lodged in the Statue of Liberty, and other fragments lodged in the clock tower of "The Jersey Journal" building in Journal Square more than away, stopping the clock at 2:12 am. The explosion was the equivalent of an earthquake measuring between 5.0 and 5.5 on the Richter scale and was felt as far away as Philadelphia. Windows were broken as far as away, including thousands in Lower Manhattan. Some window panes in Times Square were shattered. The stained glass windows in St. Patrick's Church were destroyed. The outer wall of Jersey City's City Hall was cracked and the Brooklyn Bridge was shaken. People as far away as Maryland were awakened by what they thought was an earthquake.


title: Black Tom explosion

text: Property damage from the attack was estimated at . On the island, the explosion destroyed more than one hundred railroad cars, thirteen warehouses, and left a crater at the source of the explosion. The damage to the Statue of Liberty was estimated to be , and included damage to the skirt and torch.


title: Black Tom explosion

text: There were four confirmed fatalities in the explosion: the barge captain, Jersey City Police Department officer James F. Doherty, Lehigh Valley Railroad chief of police Joseph Leyden, and ten-week-old infant Arthur Tosson. One contemporary newspaper report estimated up to seven deaths in the attack. Immigrants being processed at Ellis Island had to be evacuated to Lower Manhattan.


title: Black Tom explosion

text: In the immediate aftermath of the explosion, two watchmen who had lit smudge pots to keep away mosquitoes were questioned by police but the police soon determined that the smudge pots had not caused the fire and that the blast had likely been an accident. President Wilson remarked of the incident that it was "a regrettable incident at a private railroad terminal", and Edgar E. Clark of the Interstate Commerce Commission was dispatched to investigate.


title: Black Tom explosion

text: Soon after the explosion, suspicion fell upon Michael Kristoff, a Slovak immigrant. Kristoff would later serve in the United States Army in World War I, but admitted to working for German agents (transporting suitcases) in 1915 and 1916 while the US was still neutral. According to Kristoff, two of the guards at Black Tom were German agents. It is likely that the bombing involved some of the techniques developed by German agents working for Ambassador Count Johann Heinrich von Bernstorff, who covertly acted as a spymaster while under German Foreign Office cover, and Captain Franz von Rintelen of the intelligence wing of the German Imperial Navy, using the cigar bombs developed by Dr. Walter Scheele. von Rintelen used many resources at his disposal, including a large amount of money. von Rintelen used these resources to make generous cash bribes, one of which was notably given to Michael Kristoff in exchange for access to the pier. Suspicion at the time fell solely upon suspected German intelligence operatives Kurt Jahnke and Lothar Witzke, who are still judged as legally responsible. It is also believed that Michael Kristoff was responsible for planting and initiating the incendiary devices that led to the explosions.


title: Black Tom explosion

text: Additional investigations by the Directorate of Naval Intelligence also found links to some members of the Irish republican Clan na Gael organization and far-left organizations. Irish socialist and labour union leader James Larkin asserted that he had not participated in sabotage, but admitted to having encouraged work stoppages and strike actions in munitions factories, in an affidavit to McCloy in 1934.


title: Black Tom explosion

text: The United States did not have an established national intelligence service, other than diplomats and few military and naval attaches, making the investigation difficult. Without a formal intelligence service on the national level, the United States only had rudimentary communications security and no federal laws forbidding espionage or sabotage except during wartime, making the connections to the saboteurs and accomplices almost impossible to track.


title: Black Tom explosion

text: This attack was one of many during the German sabotage campaign against the neutral United States, and it is notable for its contribution to the shift of public opinion against Germany, which eventually resulted in American support to enter World War I.


title: Black Tom explosion

text: The Russian government sued the Lehigh Valley Railroad Company operating the Black Tom Terminal on grounds that lax security (there was no entrance gate; the territory was unlit) permitted the loss of their ammunition and argued that due to the failure to deliver them the manufacturer was obliged by the contract to replace them.


title: Black Tom explosion

text: The Lehigh Valley Railroad, advised by John J. McCloy, sought damages against Germany under the Treaty of Berlin from the German-American Mixed Claims Commission. The Mixed Claims Commission declared in 1939 that Imperial Germany had been responsible and awarded $50 million (the largest claim) in damages, which Nazi Germany refused to pay. The issue was finally settled in 1953 for $95 million (interest included) with the Federal Republic of Germany. The final payment was made in 1979.


title: Black Tom explosion

text: The Statue of Liberty's torch was closed to the public following the explosion, due to structural damages. Access was not opened even after the 1984–1986 restoration which included repairs to the arm and installation of a new gold-plated copper torch.


title: Black Tom explosion

text: The Black Tom explosion resulted in the establishment of domestic intelligence agencies for the United States. The then Police Commissioner of New York, Arthur Woods, argued, "The lessons to America are clear as day. We must not again be caught napping with no adequate national intelligence organization. The several federal bureaus should be welded into one and that one should be eternally and comprehensively vigilant." The explosion also played a role in how future presidents responded to military conflict. President Franklin D. Roosevelt used the Black Tom explosion as part of his rationale for the internment of Japanese Americans following the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941. In an interview with Jules Witcover, McCloy noted that as assistant secretary of the navy under Wilson, Roosevelt "knew all about Black Tom." At the time President Roosevelt said to him: "We don't want any more Black Toms."


title: Black Tom explosion

text: The incident also influenced public safety legislation. The sabotage techniques used by Germany, and the United States' declaration of war on Germany, led to the creation of the Espionage Act, which passed by Congress in late 1917. Landfill projects later made Black Tom Island part of the mainland, and it was incorporated into Liberty State Park. The former Black Tom Island is at the end of Morris Pesin Drive in the southeastern corner of the park, where a plaque marks the spot of the explosion. A circle of U.S. flags complements the plaque, which stands east of the visitors' center.


title: Black Tom explosion

text: On July 30, 1916 the Black Tom munitions depot exploded rocking New York Harbor and sending residents tumbling from their beds.


title: Black Tom explosion

text: The noise of the explosion was heard as far away as Maryland and Connecticut. On Ellis Island, terrified immigrants were evacuated by ferry to the Battery. Shrapnel pierced the Statue of Liberty (the arm of the Statue was closed to visitors after this). Property damage was estimated at $20 million. It is not known how many died.


title: Black Tom explosion

text: Why the explosion? Was it an accident or planned? According to historians, the Germans sabotaged the Lehigh Valley munitions depot in order to stop deliveries being made to the British who had blockaded the Germans in Europe.


title: Black Tom explosion

text: A stained-glass window at Our Lady of Czestochowa Catholic church memorialized the victims of the attack.


title: HEC Paris

text: HEC Paris () is a business school, and one of the most prestigious and selective grandes écoles, located in Jouy-en-Josas, France. HEC offers Master in Management, MSc International Finance, MBA and EMBA programs, specialised MSc's, PhD's and executive education.


title: HEC Paris

text: HEC Paris is the founding member of CEMS - Global Alliance in Management Education and holds the triple accreditation (AACSB, AMBA, EQUIS).


title: HEC Paris

text: Founded in 1881 by the Paris Chamber of Commerce (CCIP) with 57 students in the very first class, the "École des hautes études commerciales de Paris" (HEC) aimed to be in the fields of management and commerce what "Centrale Paris" was in the field of engineering.


title: HEC Paris

text: In 1921, the school introduced the case-based method of the Harvard Business School, but most of the lectures remained theoretical. In 1938, the HEC program was lengthened to 3 years.


title: HEC Paris

text: Due to French corporations' demand for North American style management education, at the end of the 1950s, the case-based method was generalized and a one-year "classe préparatoire" was created to prepare for the entrance examination, which had become more difficult. Evidence of the diploma recognition is that only 9% of HEC students also attended university in 1959, whereas 47% had done so in 1929.


title: HEC Paris

text: In 1964, French President Charles de Gaulle inaugurated a new wooded campus in Jouy-en-Josas. In 1967, HEC launched its executive education programs. Women have been accepted at HEC since 1973. Only 27 women were accepted that year and "HEC jeunes filles" (HECJF), another school dedicated to women, was closed. Its alumnae are officially considered graduates of HEC. HECJF alumni include, for example, Édith Cresson, the first woman to hold the office of Prime Minister of France.


title: HEC Paris

text: In 2016, the school adopted a new legal status and became a public-private partnership (École consulaire or EESC) largely financed by the public Chambers of Commerce in Paris.


title: HEC Paris

text: In 2017, HEC launched a portfolio of new dual degree programs called M2M with Yale School of Management, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, and Fundação Getulio Vargas.


title: HEC Paris

text: HEC Paris is a "Grande école", a French institution of higher education that is separate from, but parallel and connected to the main framework of the French public university system. Similar to the Ivy League in the United States, Russel Group in the UK, and C9 League in China, "Grandes Écoles" are elite academic institutions that admit students through an extremely competitive process. Alums go on to occupy elite positions within government, administration, and corporate firms in France.


title: HEC Paris

text: Although they are more expensive than public universities in France, "Grandes Écoles" typically have much smaller class sizes and student bodies, and many of their programs are taught in English. International internships, study abroad opportunities, and close ties with the government and the corporate world are hallmarks of the "Grandes Écoles". Many of the top-ranked business schools in Europe are members of the "Conférence des Grandes Écoles" "(CGE)", as is HEC Paris, and out of the 250 business schools in France, only 39 are "CGE" members.


title: HEC Paris

text: Degrees from HEC Paris are accredited by the "Conférence des Grandes Écoles" and awarded by the Ministry of National Education (France)(). HEC Paris is further accredited by the elite international business school accrediting organizations and it holds the much coveted Triple accreditation: The European Foundation for Management Development (EQUIS), The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB), and Association of MBAs (AMBA)


title: HEC Paris

text: Higher education business degrees in France are organized into three levels thus facilitating international mobility: the "Licence"/Bachelor's, Master's, and Doctorate degrees. A Bachelor's degree requires the completion of 180 ECTS credits (bac+3); a Master's, requires an additional 120 ECTS credits (bac+5). HEC Paris does not offer a bachelor's degree; its highly coveted PGE "(Program Grand École)" ends with the awarding of Master's in Management (M.M.) degree. Outside of the PGE, students at HEC can be awarded other Masters degrees, such as the MBA (bac + 5), or a PhD (bac + 8).


title: HEC Paris

text: French students who attended a "classe préparatoire" are taught fundamental managerial sciences during their first year at HEC. Courses include economics, accounting, finance, law, psychology, sociology and mathematics (models, operations research, and statistics). During this first year, students can spend a semester in a foreign university (e.g. Wharton, Bocconi University, Trinity College Dublin, University of British Columbia, etc.). They can also enrol in a specific one-year program to get a bachelor's degree from a French university (see below).


title: HEC Paris

text: Direct admissions, including international students, enter directly into the second year, where they begin a business-intensive program. Courses include corporate and market finance, accounting, marketing, law, mathematics, management, human resources, and supply chain. Second-year students are also allowed to spend one semester in a foreign university. At the end of their second year, students choose specific majors and must pass through a less competitive application process.


title: HEC Paris

text: To graduate, students are required to have 8 months of internships. Since this is usually difficult during the summer, many students take a semester or year off for their internship, generally between the second and third years. The final year of study covers intensive courses in the chosen major.


title: HEC Paris

text: HEC Paris has numerous double-degree agreements with French and foreign institutions, including Sorbonne Universite, Sciences Po Paris, ENS Paris, and Ecole Polytechnique in France, and Yale University and HKUST abroad. Some of them only make degrees of the partner institution available to HEC students, while others also enable selected students of the partner institution to graduate from HEC.


title: HEC Paris

text: The MSc in International Finance is ranked #1 worldwide for pre-experience programs (2020 FT Rankings). This program caters to high-achieving graduates looking to succeed in a career in finance. Substantial contact time with world-renowned practitioners adds a new dimension to the traditional curriculum and provides students with an edge in an increasingly competitive environment. The first semester is dedicated to Core and Advanced Core courses, whereas the second semester allows students to choose from a concentration of electives as well as a wide variety of free electives.


title: HEC Paris

text: The program puts a strong emphasis on graduate placement. It provides a variety of workshops and events with banks and multinational companies, including a study trip in London, designed to increase networking and job opportunities.


title: HEC Paris

text: The program has a 99% placement rate within 3 months after graduation, where 68% of students work outside of their home country, and have an average salary of €66,000.


title: HEC Paris

text: Students have the choice between (1) the Business track: designed for students with a background in business, finance or accounting; or (2) the Accelerated track: designed for students with a background in a quantitative field such as mathematics, engineering, physics, and econometrics.


title: HEC Paris

text: Business track and accelerated track students have access to the same pool of electives in the Spring term and have the same career opportunities at the end of the program. In particular, they both have access to either a specialization in Corporate Finance or a specialization in Capital Markets (Spring term).


title: HEC Paris

text: According to their choice, students will have access to a specific range of core and elective courses. While the first semester is dedicated to core and advanced core courses, the second semester allows students to choose from a concentration of electives as well as a wide variety of free electives.


title: HEC Paris

text: The MBA program, created in 1969, has two intakes: September and January. HEC's MBA consists of a 16-month-long curriculum, with 8 months of core courses and 8 months of a customized program, including several specialization options, exchange programs, and fieldwork projects. A typical class is composed of some 250 students – 90% of whom are international students – with more than 52 nationalities represented in the 2017 graduating class. The selection process seeks a balance between academic achievement, professional experience, international exposure, and personal motivation. Knowledge of French is not an entry requirement, but participants are highly encouraged to have a basic knowledge of French by the start of the MBA Program, while mandatory (during the first two core terms) and optional language courses are offered throughout the program. Exchange and dual degree programs are offered with about 40 international partner business schools, including HKUST, London Business School, Columbia Business School, Wharton, and Yale.


title: HEC Paris

text: The HEC Executive MBA is a program for top executives with a minimum of 8 years of corporate experience, which prepares them for general management positions (the average background experience of students is about 14 years). The Executive MBA is a multi-site program offered in Paris (France), Beijing (China), St Petersburg (Russia) and Doha (Qatar). The courses are split between theory, case studies, strategic projects, leadership training, EU community campus and foreign exchanges in the US and Asia. Program partnering universities are NYU, UCLA, Babson College in the US, Tsinghua University in China and Nihon University in Japan.


title: HEC Paris

text: HEC also offers the TRIUM Global Executive MBA programme jointly with Stern School of Business of NYU and the London School of Economics. It is divided into six modules that are held in five international business locations over 16 months.


title: HEC Paris

text: The HEC Paris PhD in Management provides training for careers in research and academia. It offers 7 specialisations and usually takes 4–5 years to complete. The specialisations offered are Accounting & Management Control, Economics & Decision Sciences, Finance, Information Systems & Operations Management, Management & Human Resources, Marketing, and Strategy & Business Policy. As of December 2020, there are 59 students in the program, representing 18 nationalities. More than 90% of the students join an academic career upon completion. All PhD students receive a full tuition waiver, a five-year cost-of-living scholarship and research support funding.


title: HEC Paris

text: HEC Paris is among the most selective French "grandes écoles." The number of applications has steadily increased over the years.


title: HEC Paris

text: The school has been offering a degree in entrepreneurship for more than 40 years, by creating HEC Entrepreneurs in 1977, which has today become the MSc X-HEC Entrepreneurs, in partnership with École Polytechnique. Since the creation of HEC Entrepreneurs, HEC alumni have created more than 600 companies. Between 2004 and 2013, the percentage of entrepreneurs per class jumped from 10% to 25%. In 2007, HEC Paris created Incubateur HEC Paris, its startup incubator dedicated to supporting alumni-created startups. Currently directed by Antoine Leprêtre, the incubator has been part of the Station F campus since 2017.


title: HEC Paris

text: HEC is located on a 110-hectare woodland campus in Jouy-en-Josas, 16  km. (10 miles) southwest of central Paris, close to Versailles. Jouy-en-Josas is served by the RER Parisian suburban train and the local bus service. The campus is built around a 19th-century "château", which is currently used for Executive Education classes.


title: HEC Paris

text: Lodging is provided in one of ten dormitories ("Bâtiments") providing basic but furnished rooms. Everyone eats together at the University Restaurant, which serves two meals a day in a soup kitchen set. "Grande école" and Specialized Master students have classes in the "Bâtiment des études" (Batzet), while MBA students study in a specially designated building. There are three on-campus bars: Le Zinc, which is located on the second floor of the former Cafeteria (or Kfet), Le Wunder Bar, which is located on the first floor next to the Kfet, and the Piano Bar, which is adjacent to the MBA residence hall. The campus also has several sports fields, gym facilities and two lakes.


title: HEC Paris

text: HEC Paris in Qatar is the result of an agreement between HEC Paris and the Qatar Foundation, a non-profit organization created in 1995 by the Emir of Qatar Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani and his wife, the Sheikha Moza bint Nasser.


title: HEC Paris

text: HEC Paris in Qatar campus is located in the “Tornado Tower” in the heart of the “West Bay” financial centre of the city of Doha.


title: HEC Paris

text: HEC Qatar offers four types of programs, including an Executive MBA and a "Mastère spécialisé" program.


title: HEC Paris

text: The HEC Student Council ("Bureau des Élèves" in French, or BDE) is in charge of the social entertainment on campus. It is also in charge of coordinating all club activities and representing the students in front of the campus administration. The BDE organizes weekly events such as POWs ("Parties of the Week"), lunches and dinners, speakers, and sports events. HEC parties, which usually are organised every Thursday, are some of the most recognized ones among all French schools and universities. The BDE is composed of a 40-student team that is elected each year in April and for which the competition among students creates the well-known Student Office Campaign.


title: HEC Paris

text: The HEC MBA Council is in charge of all social activities related to the MBA student body. It manages the MBA students' Piano Bar in the Expansiel Building (Building A), coordinates and sometimes funds all MBA club activities (speaker events, sports events, dinners, etc.), works to expand the HEC MBA brand, develops campus and alumni relations, sets up the new MBA students' integration week, and generally relays student concerns and needs to the administration. Elections for the MBA Council are bi-annual to accommodate both January and September MBA intakes.


title: HEC Paris

text: The school alumni association, Association des diplômés HEC Paris, was founded in 1883 and gathers alumni of the different institutions of the HEC Group: École HEC Paris, MBA HEC Paris, HEC Paris Executive MBA, Mastères HEC Paris and Doctorat HEC Paris. Each degree is associated with a letter and the year of graduation. In 2017, HEC Alumni were ranked by The Economist as the 2nd most powerful business school alumni network in the world.


title: HEC Paris

text: The institution is featured in many works. "Association of Wrongdoers", a 1987 film by Claude Zidi, features former students.


title: Jayam (2002 film)

text: Jayam () is a 2002 Indian Telugu-language romantic action drama film written, produced and directed by Teja under the banner, Chitram Movies.The film stars Nithiin, Sadha, and Gopichand. and music was composed by R. P. Patnaik. The film went on to become a huge hit both critically and commercially. Performances of actors and the music was well received and appreciated by the viewers and critics. It was remade by M. Raja in Tamil with the same title in 2003, while Sadha and Gopichand reprised their roles.


title: Jayam (2002 film)

text: In a village, the parents of first cousins Sujatha and Raghu decide that the children will marry one another when they grow up. Raghu is seen to be arrogant and negatively shaded since young. He smokes and steals money from his father to gamble. Once when Raghu attacks Sujatha's classmate when he helps her, Sujatha breaks all bonds with Raghu. When Raghu's family moves to another village, Sujatha and Raghu do not even say goodbye to each other. Meanwhile, Raghu's father gifts Sujatha with silver anklets and requests her to never remove them, to which she obliges. Several years pass by. Raghu and Sujatha are very distanced. Sujatha grows up to be a beautiful teenage girl, whereas Raghu becomes a rogue and a womanizer. Every time his mother speaks of Sujatha, he feels disgusted. He goes to the extent of sleeping with his servant.


title: Jayam (2002 film)

text: Meanwhile, Sujatha goes to college, where she meets Venkat. Venkat is from an extremely poor family and does small jobs to support his single mother, and pay the money lender. He has a decent group of friends, and they are classmates with Sujatha. Venkat has an instant crush on Sujatha, which Sujatha does not reciprocate. Venkat asks Sujatha to come to the temple festival, to which she refuses. But in the end, Sujatha comes, indicating that she is in love with Venkat. Venkat and Sujatha start dating and communicating with each other on the train by writing to each other on the blackboard at the side of the train.


title: Jayam (2002 film)

text: Once, when building up the courage to board the same compartment on the train as Venkat, Sujatha is spotted by the family astrologer. She goes home scared, and as she had expected, the astrologer told Sujatha's father. Her father tells her that she would be married to Raghu just as was decided years ago. Sujatha protests, but her father stays firm. This results in Sujatha dropping out of college and staying at home.


title: Jayam (2002 film)

text: Raghu comes for the engagement reluctantly (still thinking of their childhood encounter), but instantly falls for her the moment he sees her. He warns Sujatha that she would never go away and marry him in the end. They both are engaged. Sujatha has a younger sister Kalyani, who turns out to be the messenger between her and Venkat. She gives a message to Venkat to meet Sujatha at the temple. The whole family goes to the temple after the engagement, and there Sujatha sees Venkat waiting for her. She is spotted talking to Venkat by Raghu and his gang, and they mercilessly beat him up. Traumatized, Sujatha runs to her father, but Raghu indirectly warns her family that things would turn out wrong if Venkat is seen anywhere near Sujatha.


title: Jayam (2002 film)

text: He then mysteriously comes into Raghu's home and writes that he would be the one marrying Sujatha in the end, in blood, triggering Raghu. Fearing that Venkat would come and take Sujatha away, Raghu sends his men to Venkat's house. They trash the whole house and the things inside, sparing his mother. His mother tells Venkat's friends that he should come back with Sujatha, and if he does not, she would kill him. The same thing happens in Sujatha's home on their wedding day he writes he will take Sujatha at 7:00. Raghu, in a rush, asks the family to hurry and complete the wedding. Sujatha goes into the room to change, but in reality, she is waiting for Venkat, after seeing his message on the wall. Raghu comes and breaks open the door, and at the same time, Venkat comes through the roof and rescues Sujatha.


title: Jayam (2002 film)

text: Angered and defeated, Raghu goes after the couple, and a chase ensues, which results in Venkat getting wounded by Raghu. The couple and Venkat's friend helped them, escape on the train with the help of the conductor. But Raghu enters the train with his men, and the couple escapes to the roof, where they are cornered. To save themselves, they jump off the train and roll down to a forest. To their shock, Raghu and his men come there as well. After gaining confidence from Sujatha, he fights with Raghu. Raghu is defeated in face-to-face combat with Venkat, and Venkat marries Sujatha.


title: Jayam (2002 film)

text: Music was composed by R. P. Patnaik. Lyrics were penned by Kulasekhar. Music was released on ADITYA Music Company.


title: Cathy Newman

text: Catherine Elizabeth Newman (born 14 July 1974) is an English journalist, and presenter of "Channel 4 News". She began her career as a newspaper journalist, and had spells at "Media Week", "The Independent", the "Financial Times" and "The Washington Post". She has worked on "Channel 4 News" since 2006, initially as a correspondent and, since 2011, as a presenter.


title: Cathy Newman

text: In 2018, she released "Bloody Brilliant Women: The Pioneers, Revolutionaries and Geniuses Your History Teacher Forgot to Mention", a book detailing the lives of women in Britain in the 20th and 21st centuries. In 2020, she released "It Takes Two: A History of the Couples Who Dared to be Different", a book about how great pairs, from romantic couples to sworn rivals, have made history.


title: Cathy Newman

text: Born in Guildford, Newman is the younger daughter of David Newman and Julia Worsdall, both chemistry teachers, and has one sister. She attended a fee-paying girls school in Guildford until the age of 16, when she joined Charterhouse, where her father taught, as one of a few girls admitted to the school's sixth form. She has said that she stayed silent for years about the sexual harassment and other humiliation she experienced from fellow pupils. She was on the path to a career as a violinist or in the legal profession before changing her plans as a result of seeing BBC journalist Kate Adie on television. Newman read English at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford, where she graduated with first-class honours.


title: Cathy Newman

text: Following university, Newman briefly worked on "The Guardian's" Books section, then at "Media Week" (as a trainee) and "The Independent" (as media business correspondent) before joining the "Financial Times" at the age of 23. Her older colleague Alice Rawsthorn acted as a mentor at the "FT", where Newman worked as a media and then (for three years) political correspondent. While Newman was working at the "FT", David Yelland, the editor of "The Sun", offered her a slot called "Better than Lex" (named after "Lex", a column in the "Financial Times"). She seriously considered the offer, but later declined; the experience led to further opportunities in political journalism. Newman began a television career in 2000. She gained a Laurence Stern fellowship to work at "The Washington Post" for four months. During her period in the US, she followed the 2000 Presidential campaign of Green Party candidate Ralph Nader.


title: Cathy Newman

text: She joined "Channel 4 News" in January 2006 as a political correspondent and deputy to political editor Gary Gibbon. In this role she broke several stories, including claims the Treasury pushed through the nomination of then Chancellor Gordon Brown's close friend Ronald Cohen for the House of Lords, challenging Peter Mandelson at the Brighton Labour Party conference in 2009, over his claimed use of the "c" word in a conversation with Rebekah Brooks (née Wade), the CEO of News International.


title: Cathy Newman

text: From 2013 to 2015, Newman's pursuit of a story about the allegations of improper conduct levelled at Lord Rennard, once a leading figure in the Liberal Democrats, included her participation in an LBC local London radio phone-in on 27 February 2013 to quiz deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg on the issue. Newman has commented that sexism was endemic at Westminster during her period as a lobby correspondent there, but has also said that the newspaper industry is even worse. She told Natasha Lunn in an interview for "Red" magazine in 2016: "As a woman in the media I feel a duty to make sure we report those issues. I've always wanted to right injustices; I suppose what's changed is I've now got a keener sense of how journalists can hold power to account". The victim of online sexism for her work, Newman gave her support for "public humiliation" of trolls in 2013: "the best way to tackle these people is to publicly humiliate them".


title: Cathy Newman

text: A regular commentator on politics in other media outlets, Newman has appeared as a guest panelist on "Have I Got News for You" and blogs for "The Daily Telegraph" and "Economia" magazine.


title: Cathy Newman

text: Newman was long-listed for the Orwell Prize (Journalism) in 2010 and again in 2011 for the blog prize. She was announced as one of the judges for the Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction in 2015.


title: Cathy Newman

text: In February 2015, Newman tweeted that she was "ushered onto the street" for being female when she went to the South London Islamic Centre for a 'Visit My Mosque' programme. The mosque started receiving violent threats from the public as the story spread. A spokesperson for the Hyderi Islamic Centre had said Newman had simply visited the wrong address, and CCTV footage showed Newman had left the building on her own accord. Newman and Channel 4 News editor Ben de Pear later apologised, acknowledging that Newman had mistakenly visited the wrong building.


title: Cathy Newman

text: On 8 September 2022, she announced the death of Queen Elizabeth II following an announcement from Buckingham Palace earlier in the day.


title: Cathy Newman

text: On January 16, 2018, Newman interviewed Canadian psychologist and author Jordan Peterson. The interview covered topics such as gender equality, including the gender pay gap, freedom of speech, and transgender rights. Short clips, gifs and memes of the fiery back-and-forth subsequently went viral, especially Newman's repeated use of the line 'So you're saying..." --an utterance made 35 times during the 29 minute interview.


title: Cathy Newman

text: Many YouTube commenters were critical of Newman, a large number of them saying she had "a preconceived and misplaced grasp of Peterson's views", wrote Jamie Doward of "The Guardian". "New York Times" columnist David Brooks criticized Newman for not listening to Peterson and for "distort[ing], simplif[ying] and restat[ing] his views to make them appear offensive and cartoonish."


title: Cathy Newman

text: "Channel 4 News" editor Ben de Pear said that the station called in security specialists in response to social media abuse and threats directed against her. Newman later said that "there were literally thousands of abusive tweets – it was a semi-organised campaign. It ranged from the usual 'cunt, bitch, dumb blonde' to 'I'm going to find out where you live and execute you'."


title: Cathy Newman

text: On Twitter, Peterson said there was "no evidence that the criticisms constituted threats", and that the idea the abuse was driven by misogyny was "ridiculous". Following the interview, Newman's Wikipedia article was "rapidly edited back and forth" for several weeks. Newman said that women generally are misrepresented in their Wikipedia biographies because the "internet is being written by men with an agenda."


title: Cathy Newman

text: Newman's book, "Bloody Brilliant Women", concerning significant, but unheralded, 20th-century women, was published in 2018. The book presents case studies of both prominent and lesser known women throughout British history, finding parallels between their experiences and those of contemporary women.


title: Cathy Newman

text: In early 2020, Newman was announced by forthcoming radio station Times Radio as the presenter of their Friday drive time programme. She continues to present "Channel 4 News" whilst being a Times Radio presenter.


title: Cathy Newman

text: On 25 January 2022, Newman interviewed Conor Burns, minister of state for Northern Ireland, on Channel 4 News about the imminent publication of Sue Gray's report into alleged parties at 10 Downing Street in violation of COVID-19 lockdowns. Burns attempted to defend Prime Minister Boris Johnson by insisting that one party to celebrate Johnson's birthday "was not a premeditated, organised party. He was, in a sense, ambushed with a cake". The interview quickly went viral, inspiring thousands of social media memes, and Burns was widely mocked. The food writer Nigella Lawson joked on Twitter that she intended to use the phrase as the title for her next book. On 1 February 2022, White House press secretary Jen Psaki was asked at her daily press briefing if President Joe Biden had ever been ambushed with a cake. She replied: "Not that I'm aware of."


title: Cathy Newman

text: Newman married writer John O'Connell, whom she met at university, in 2001. The couple live in London with their two daughters. Newman has written about having a miscarriage, and about deciding to have an abortion, after discovering 13 weeks into her pregnancy that the foetus had a rare condition with a high mortality rate.


title: Judith Slaying Holofernes (Artemisia Gentileschi, Naples)

text: Judith Slaying Holofernes is a painting by the Italian early Baroque artist Artemisia Gentileschi, completed in 1612-13 and now at the Museo Capodimonte, Naples, Italy. The picture is considered one of her iconic works. The canvas shows Judith beheading Holofernes. The subject takes an episode from the apocryphal Book of Judith in the Old Testament, which recounts the assassination of the Assyrian general Holofernes by the Israelite heroine Judith. The painting shows the moment when Judith, helped by her maidservant Abra, beheads the general after he has fallen asleep in a drunken stupor.


text: Early feminist critics interpreted the painting as a form of visual revenge following Gentileschi's rape by Agostino Tassi in 1611; similarly many other art historians see the painting in the context of her achievement in portraying strong women.


text: Artemisia Gentileschi was around twenty years of age when she painted "Judith Slaying Holofernes". Previously, Gentileschi had also completed "Susanna and the Elders" and "Madonna and Child". These artworks already give an indication of Gentileschi's skill in representing body movement and facial expressions to express emotions. X-rays undertaken on the painting show that Gentileschi made several alterations to the painting (e.g. the position of Judith's arms, the position of the drapery) before it reached its current state.


text: The episode of Judith beheading Holofernes is from a deuterocanonical book of the Bible. The episode is from the apocryphal Book of Judith in the Old Testament, which recounts the assassination of the Assyrian general Holofernes by the Israelite heroine Judith. Gentileschi draws upon the most climactic part of the Book of Judith where the beheading takes place.


text: "Judith Slaying Holofernes" has been considered to be related to the Power of Woman theme. Historian Susan L. Smith defines the "power of woman" as "the representational practice of bringing together at least two, but usually more, well-known figures from the Bible, ancient history or romance to exemplify a cluster of interrelated themes that include the wiles of woman, the power of love and the trials of marriage. Gentileschi plays into the "wiles of woman" in her painting by literally portraying Judith at the main point of her domination over a man. Judith is shown as a beautiful woman which enticed Holofernes and also as a fierce heroine.


text: The painting is relentlessly physical, from the wide spurts of blood to the energy of the two women as they perform the act. The effort of the women's struggle is most finely represented by the delicate face of the maid, who is younger than in other treatments of the same theme, which is grasped by the oversized, muscular fist of Holofernes as he desperately struggles to survive. "Judith Slaying Holofernes" utilises deeper primary colours in comparison to the Florentine version. Judith is shown wearing a cobalt blue dress with gold accents and her maidservant wears a red gown. Both women have their sleeves rolled up. As a follower of Caravaggio, Artemisia Gentileschi makes use of chiaroscuro in the painting, with a dark background contrasting with the light shining directly on the scene of Judith beheading Holofernes.


text: Little is known of the painting's early history, however many scholars believe it was created while Artemisia was still living in Rome. There is no information as of yet on the patron of this artwork. Its location was unknown until documented in the collection of Signora Saveria de Simone in Naples in 1827. At some point in the painting's history, the left and top parts of the painting were cut off, leaving a curtailed version of the original painting.


text: The Renaissance had a long-standing history of portraying Judith. Many artists believed that the heroine Judith held many different qualities like chastity and humility. Lucas Cranach the Elder painted a very straightforward version of Judith now known as "Judith with the Head of Holofernes." Cranach's Judith is shown with a resolved look on her face as she holds a sword in her hand. She wears an ornate green dress and the viewer can only see up to her mid-thigh region. Her body is cut off due to a marble ledge where the head of Holofernes sits. There is no gushing blood and Judith seems to have made a clean cut through Holofernes' neck. The phlegmatic look on Judith's face contrasts the intensity of her beheading. Gentileschi captures the emotions of Judith's face but maintains more medical accuracy with the blood that is spilling down the bed. She shows Judith in the act of beheading rather than showing her holding the head of Holofernes as Cranach did.


text: Donatello contributed his own interpretation with his sculpture "Judith and Holofernes" where Judith is depicted towering over Holofernes with a sword over her head. Holofernes' body slumps over and his head is still attached to his body. Donatello's Judith and Holofernes sought to symbolize the theme of pride in Holofernes and stands as a cautionary tale to the Medici family. Writer Roger J. Crum notes that, "Judith's gesture, pulling back the general's head, renders sure her next blow, it also makes the neck all the more visible. 'Behold the neck of pride' commanded the inscription, and Donatello's treatment facilitated compliance". Unlike Donatello's sculpture, Gentileschi shows Judith triumphing over Holofernes in the climactic moment of the beheading. Gentileschi also chose to show Judith without a head-covering and includes Judith's maidservant.


text: Judith beheading Holofernes was a very popular story amongst Baroque artists. Artemisia Gentileschi's contemporary Johann Liss stayed abreast with the Baroque style by including macabre imagery in his painting, "Judith in the Tent of Holofernes". The painting shows the headless body of Holofernes slumping over. Judith sweeps Holofernes's head into a basket showing a look of swiftness about her. The viewer can see the maidservant's head in the background while the rest of her body is unseen. She seems eager to see what directions Judith will give her next. The decapitated body of Holofernes has blood gushing out of it, showing Liss's interest in the human body. Gentileschi has a similar urgency in her painting but shows Judith in mid-decapitation rather than showing Holofernes headless body. Gentileschi also uses the same amount of bloodiness in her painting.


text: Caravaggio's "Judith Beheading Holofernes" shows a different portrayal of this scene. Mary Gerrard points out that Caravaggio "reintroduced a narrative emphasis, but focusing now upon the dramatic rather than the epic features of the story and upon the human conflict between the two principal characters". Caravaggio shows Holofernes holding the blood coming from his neck like a string. Rather than making the scene of Holofernes's beheading more palatable for the viewers, Gentileschi differs by not holding back the gruesome imagery. Gentileschi also shows Judith putting her full efforts into the slaying, even by employing her maidservant. In both Caravaggio and Gentileschi's paintings there is a notable absence of decorative detail in the background.


text: Judith beheading Holofernes has been depicted by a number of artists including Giorgione, Titian, Rembrandt, Peter Paul Rubens and Caravaggio.


text: Caravaggio's "Judith Beheading Holofernes" is believed to be the main inspiration of Gentileschi's work, and his influence shows in the naturalism and violence she brings to her canvas.