title: Neptunium

text: Neptunium's unique radioactive characteristics allowed it to be traced as it moved through various compounds in chemical reactions, at first this was the only method available to prove that its chemistry was different from other elements. As the first isotope of neptunium to be discovered has such a short half-life, McMillan and Abelson were unable to prepare a sample that was large enough to perform chemical analysis of the new element using the technology that was then available. However, after the discovery of the long-lived Np isotope in 1942 by Glenn Seaborg and Arthur Wahl, forming weighable amounts of neptunium became a realistic endeavor. Its half-life was initially determined to be about 3 million years (later revised to 2.144 million years), confirming the predictions of Nishina and Kimura of a very long half-life.


title: Neptunium

text: Early research into the element was somewhat limited because most of the nuclear physicists and chemists in the United States at the time were focused on the massive effort to research the properties of plutonium as part of the Manhattan Project. Research into the element did continue as a minor part of the project and the first bulk sample of neptunium was isolated in 1944.


title: Neptunium

text: Much of the research into the properties of neptunium since then has been focused on understanding how to confine it as a portion of nuclear waste. Because it has isotopes with very long half-lives, it is of particular concern in the context of designing confinement facilities that can last for thousands of years. It has found some limited uses as a radioactive tracer and a precursor for various nuclear reactions to produce useful plutonium isotopes. However, most of the neptunium that is produced as a reaction byproduct in nuclear power stations is considered to be a waste product.


title: Neptunium

text: The vast majority of the neptunium that currently exists on Earth was produced artificially in nuclear reactions. Neptunium-237 is the most commonly synthesized isotope due to it being the only one that both can be created via neutron capture and also has a half-life long enough to allow weighable quantities to be easily isolated. As such, it is by far the most common isotope to be utilized in chemical studies of the element.


title: Neptunium

text: Heavier isotopes of neptunium decay quickly, and lighter isotopes of neptunium cannot be produced by neutron capture, so chemical separation of neptunium from cooled spent nuclear fuel gives nearly pure Np. The short-lived heavier isotopes Np and Np, useful as radioactive tracers, are produced through neutron irradiation of Np and U respectively, while the longer-lived lighter isotopes Np and Np are produced through irradiation of U with protons and deuterons in a cyclotron.


title: Neptunium

text: Artificial Np metal is usually isolated through a reaction of NpF with liquid barium or lithium at around 1200 °C and is most often extracted from spent nuclear fuel rods in kilogram amounts as a by-product in plutonium production.


title: Neptunium

text: By weight, neptunium-237 discharges are about 5% as great as plutonium discharges and about 0.05% of spent nuclear fuel discharges. However, even this fraction still amounts to more than fifty tons per year globally.


title: Neptunium

text: Recovering uranium and plutonium from spent nuclear fuel for reuse is one of the major processes of the nuclear fuel cycle. As it has a long half-life of just over 2 million years, the alpha emitter Np is one of the major isotopes of the minor actinides separated from spent nuclear fuel. Many separation methods have been used to separate out the neptunium, operating on small and large scales. The small-scale purification operations have the goals of preparing pure neptunium as a precursor of metallic neptunium and its compounds, and also to isolate and preconcentrate neptunium in samples for analysis.


title: Neptunium

text: Most methods that separate neptunium ions exploit the differing chemical behaviour of the differing oxidation states of neptunium (from +3 to +6 or sometimes even +7) in solution. Among the methods that are or have been used are: solvent extraction (using various extractants, usually multidentate β-diketone derivatives, organophosphorus compounds, and amine compounds), chromatography using various ion-exchange or chelating resins, coprecipitation (possible matrices include LaF, BiPO, BaSO, Fe(OH), and MnO), electrodeposition, and biotechnological methods. Currently, commercial reprocessing plants use the Purex process, involving the solvent extraction of uranium and plutonium with tributyl phosphate.


title: Neptunium

text: When it is in an aqueous solution, neptunium can exist in any of its five possible oxidation states (+3 to +7) and each of these show a characteristic color. The stability of each oxidation state is strongly dependent on various factors, such as the presence of oxidizing or reducing agents, pH of the solution, presence of coordination complex-forming ligands, and even the concentration of neptunium in the solution.


title: Neptunium

text: In acidic solutions, the neptunium(III) to neptunium(VII) ions exist as Np, Np, , , and . In basic solutions, they exist as the oxides and hydroxides Np(OH), NpO, NpOOH, NpO(OH), and . Not as much work has been done to characterize neptunium in basic solutions. Np and Np can easily be reduced and oxidized to each other, as can and .


title: Neptunium

text: Np(III) or Np exists as hydrated complexes in acidic solutions, . It is a dark blue-purple and is analogous to its lighter congener, the pink rare-earth ion Pm. In the presence of oxygen, it is quickly oxidized to Np(IV) unless strong reducing agents are also present. Nevertheless, it is the second-least easily hydrolyzed neptunium ion in water, forming the NpOH ion. Np is the predominant neptunium ion in solutions of pH 4–5.


title: Neptunium

text: Np(IV) or Np is pale yellow-green in acidic solutions, where it exists as hydrated complexes (). It is quite unstable to hydrolysis in acidic aqueous solutions at pH 1 and above, forming NpOH. In basic solutions, Np tends to hydrolyze to form the neutral neptunium(IV) hydroxide (Np(OH)) and neptunium(IV) oxide (NpO).


title: Neptunium

text: Np(V) or is green-blue in aqueous solution, in which it behaves as a strong Lewis acid. It is a stable ion and is the most common form of neptunium in aqueous solutions. Unlike its neighboring homologues and , does not spontaneously disproportionate except at very low pH and high concentration:


title: Neptunium

text: Np(VI) or , the neptunyl ion, shows a light pink or reddish color in an acidic solution and yellow-green otherwise. It is a strong Lewis acid and is the main neptunium ion encountered in solutions of pH 3–4. Though stable in acidic solutions, it is quite easily reduced to the Np(V) ion, and it is not as stable as the homologous hexavalent ions of its neighbours uranium and plutonium (the uranyl and plutonyl ions). It hydrolyzes in basic solutions to form the oxo and hydroxo ions NpOOH, , and .


title: Neptunium

text: Np(VII) is dark green in a strongly basic solution. Though its chemical formula in basic solution is frequently cited as , this is a simplification and the real structure is probably closer to a hydroxo species like . Np(VII) was first prepared in basic solution in 1967. In strongly acidic solution, Np(VII) is found as ; water quickly reduces this to Np(VI). Its hydrolysis products are uncharacterized.


title: Neptunium

text: The oxides and hydroxides of neptunium are closely related to its ions. In general, Np hydroxides at various oxidation levels are less stable than the actinides before it on the periodic table such as thorium and uranium and more stable than those after it such as plutonium and americium. This phenomenon is because the stability of an ion increases as the ratio of atomic number to the radius of the ion increases. Thus actinides higher on the periodic table will more readily undergo hydrolysis.


title: Neptunium

text: Neptunium(III) hydroxide is quite stable in acidic solutions and in environments that lack oxygen, but it will rapidly oxidize to the IV state in the presence of air. It is not soluble in water. Np(IV) hydroxides exist mainly as the electrically neutral Np(OH) and its mild solubility in water is not affected at all by the pH of the solution. This suggests that the other Np(IV) hydroxide, , does not have a significant presence.


title: Neptunium

text: Because the Np(V) ion is very stable, it can only form a hydroxide in high acidity levels. When placed in a 0.1 M sodium perchlorate solution, it does not react significantly for a period of months, although a higher molar concentration of 3.0 M will result in it reacting to the solid hydroxide NpOOH almost immediately. Np(VI) hydroxide is more reactive but it is still fairly stable in acidic solutions. It will form the compound NpO· HO in the presence of ozone under various carbon dioxide pressures. Np(VII) has not been well-studied and no neutral hydroxides have been reported. It probably exists mostly as .


title: Neptunium

text: Three anhydrous neptunium oxides have been reported, NpO, NpO, and NpO, though some studies have stated that only the first two of these exist, suggesting that claims of NpO are actually the result of mistaken analysis of NpO. However, as the full extent of the reactions that occur between neptunium and oxygen has yet to be researched, it is not certain which of these claims is accurate. Although neptunium oxides have not been produced with neptunium in oxidation states as high as those possible with the adjacent actinide uranium, neptunium oxides are more stable at lower oxidation states. This behavior is illustrated by the fact that NpO can be produced by simply burning neptunium salts of oxyacids in air.


title: Neptunium

text: The greenish-brown NpO is very stable over a large range of pressures and temperatures and does not undergo phase transitions at low temperatures. It does show a phase transition from face-centered cubic to orthorhombic at around 33-37GPa, although it returns to is original phase when pressure is released. It remains stable under oxygen pressures up to 2.84 MPa and temperatures up to 400 °C.


title: Neptunium

text: NpO is black-brown in color and monoclinic with a lattice size of 418×658×409 picometres. It is relatively unstable and decomposes to NpO and O at 420-695 °C. Although NpO was initially subject to several studies that claimed to produce it with mutually contradictory methods, it was eventually prepared successfully by heating neptunium peroxide to 300-350 °C for 2–3 hours or by heating it under a layer of water in an ampoule at 180 °C.


title: Neptunium

text: Neptunium also forms a large number of oxide compounds with a wide variety of elements, although the neptunate oxides formed with alkali metals and alkaline earth metals have been by far the most studied. Ternary neptunium oxides are generally formed by reacting NpO with the oxide of another element or by precipitating from an alkaline solution. LiNpO has been prepared by reacting LiO and NpO at 400 °C for 16 hours or by reacting LiO with NpO · HO at 400 °C for 16 hours in a quartz tube and flowing oxygen. Alkali neptunate compounds KNpO, CsNpO, and RbNpO are all created by a similar reaction:


title: Neptunium

text: The oxide compounds KNpO, CsNpO, and RbNpO are formed by reacting Np(VII) () with a compound of the alkali metal nitrate and ozone. Additional compounds have been produced by reacting NpO and water with solid alkali and alkaline peroxides at temperatures of 400 - 600 °C for 15–30 hours. Some of these include Ba(NpO), BaNaNpO, and BaLiNpO. Also, a considerable number of hexavalent neptunium oxides are formed by reacting solid-state NpO with various alkali or alkaline earth oxides in an environment of flowing oxygen. Many of the resulting compounds also have an equivalent compound that substitutes uranium for neptunium. Some compounds that have been characterized include NaNpO, NaNpO, NaNpO, and NaNpO. These can be obtained by heating different combinations of NpO and NaO to various temperature thresholds and further heating will also cause these compounds to exhibit different neptunium allotropes. The lithium neptunate oxides LiNpO and LiNpO can be obtained with similar reactions of NpO and LiO.


title: Neptunium

text: A large number of additional alkali and alkaline neptunium oxide compounds such as CsNpO and CsNpO have been characterized with various production methods. Neptunium has also been observed to form ternary oxides with many additional elements in groups 3 through 7, although these compounds are much less well studied.


title: Neptunium

text: Although neptunium halide compounds have not been nearly as well studied as its oxides, a fairly large number have been successfully characterized. Of these, neptunium fluorides have been the most extensively researched, largely because of their potential use in separating the element from nuclear waste products. Four binary neptunium fluoride compounds, NpF, NpF, NpF, and NpF, have been reported. The first two are fairly stable and were first prepared in 1947 through the following reactions:


title: Neptunium

text: Later, NpF was obtained directly by heating NpO to various temperatures in mixtures of either hydrogen fluoride or pure fluorine gas. NpF is much more difficult to create and most known preparation methods involve reacting NpF or NpF compounds with various other fluoride compounds. NpF will decompose into NpF and NpF when heated to around 320 °C.


title: Neptunium

text: NpF or neptunium hexafluoride is extremely volatile, as are its adjacent actinide compounds uranium hexafluoride (UF) and plutonium hexafluoride (PuF). This volatility has attracted a large amount of interest to the compound in an attempt to devise a simple method for extracting neptunium from spent nuclear power station fuel rods. NpF was first prepared in 1943 by reacting NpF and gaseous fluorine at very high temperatures and the first bulk quantities were obtained in 1958 by heating NpF and dripping pure fluorine on it in a specially prepared apparatus. Additional methods that have successfully produced neptunium hexafluoride include reacting BrF and BrF with NpF and by reacting several different neptunium oxide and fluoride compounds with anhydrous hydrogen fluorides.


title: Neptunium

text: Four neptunium oxyfluoride compounds, NpOF, NpOF, NpOF, and NpOF, have been reported, although none of them have been extensively studied. NpOF is a pinkish solid and can be prepared by reacting NpO · HO and NpF with pure fluorine at around 330 °C. NpOF and NpOF can be produced by reacting neptunium oxides with anhydrous hydrogen fluoride at various temperatures. Neptunium also forms a wide variety of fluoride compounds with various elements. Some of these that have been characterized include CsNpF, RbNpF, NaNpF, and KNpOF.


title: Neptunium

text: Two neptunium chlorides, NpCl and NpCl, have been characterized. Although several attempts to create NpCl have been made, they have not been successful. NpCl is created by reducing neptunium dioxide with hydrogen and carbon tetrachloride (CCl) and NpCl by reacting a neptunium oxide with CCl at around 500 °C. Other neptunium chloride compounds have also been reported, including NpOCl, CsNpCl, CsNpOCl, and CsNaNpCl. Neptunium bromides NpBr and NpBr have also been created; the latter by reacting aluminium bromide with NpO at 350 °C and the former in an almost identical procedure but with zinc present. The neptunium iodide NpI has also been prepared by the same method as NpBr.


title: Neptunium

text: Neptunium chalcogen and pnictogen compounds have been well studied primarily as part of research into their electronic and magnetic properties and their interactions in the natural environment. Pnictide and carbide compounds have also attracted interest because of their presence in the fuel of several advanced nuclear reactor designs, although the latter group has not had nearly as much research as the former.


title: Neptunium

text: A wide variety of neptunium sulfide compounds have been characterized, including the pure sulfide compounds NpS, NpS, NpS, NpS, NpS, and NpS. Of these, NpS, prepared by reacting NpO with hydrogen sulfide and carbon disulfide at around 1000 °C, is the most well-studied and three allotropic forms are known. The α form exists up to around 1230 °C, the β up to 1530 °C, and the γ form, which can also exist as NpS, at higher temperatures. NpS can be created by reacting NpS and neptunium metal at 1600 °C and NpS can be prepared by the decomposition of NpS at 500 °C or by reacting sulfur and neptunium hydride at 650 °C. NpS is made by heating a mixture of NpS and pure sulfur to 500 °C. All of the neptunium sulfides except for the β and γ forms of NpS are isostructural with the equivalent uranium sulfide and several, including NpS, α−NpS, and β−NpS are also isostructural with the equivalent plutonium sulfide. The oxysulfides NpOS, NpOS, and NpOS have also been created, although the latter three have not been well studied. NpOS was first prepared in 1985 by vacuum sealing NpO, NpS, and pure sulfur in a quartz tube and heating it to 900 °C for one week.


title: Neptunium

text: Neptunium selenide compounds that have been reported include NpSe, NpSe, NpSe, NpSe, NpSe, and NpSe. All of these have only been obtained by heating neptunium hydride and selenium metal to various temperatures in a vacuum for an extended period of time and NpSe is only known to exist in the γ allotrope at relatively high temperatures. Two neptunium oxyselenide compounds are known, NpOSe and NpOSe, are formed with similar methods by replacing the neptunium hydride with neptunium dioxide. The known neptunium telluride compounds NpTe, NpTe, NpTe, NpTe, and NpOTe are formed by similar procedures to the selenides and NpOTe is isostructural to the equivalent uranium and plutonium compounds. No neptunium−polonium compounds have been reported.


title: Neptunium

text: Neptunium nitride (NpN) was first prepared in 1953 by reacting neptunium hydride and ammonia gas at around 750 °C in a quartz capillary tube. Later, it was produced by reacting different mixtures of nitrogen and hydrogen with neptunium metal at various temperatures. It has also been created by the reduction of neptunium dioxide with diatomic nitrogen gas at 1550 °C. NpN is isomorphous with uranium mononitride (UN) and plutonium mononitride (PuN) and has a melting point of 2830 °C under a nitrogen pressure of around 1 MPa. Two neptunium phosphide compounds have been reported, NpP and NpP. The first has a face centered cubic structure and is prepared by converting neptunium metal to a powder and then reacting it with phosphine gas at 350 °C. NpP can be created by reacting neptunium metal with red phosphorus at 740 °C in a vacuum and then allowing any extra phosphorus to sublimate away. The compound is non-reactive with water but will react with nitric acid to produce Np(IV) solution.


title: Neptunium

text: Three neptunium arsenide compounds have been prepared, NpAs, NpAs, and NpAs. The first two were first created by heating arsenic and neptunium hydride in a vacuum-sealed tube for about a week. Later, NpAs was also made by confining neptunium metal and arsenic in a vacuum tube, separating them with a quartz membrane, and heating them to just below neptunium's melting point of 639 °C, which is slightly higher than the arsenic's sublimation point of 615 °C. NpAs is prepared by a similar procedure using iodine as a transporting agent. NpAs crystals are brownish gold and NpAs is black. The neptunium antimonide compound NpSb was created in 1971 by placing equal quantities of both elements in a vacuum tube, heating them to the melting point of antimony, and then heating it further to 1000 °C for sixteen days. This procedure also created trace amounts of an additional antimonide compound NpSb. One neptunium-bismuth compound, NpBi, has also been reported.


title: Neptunium

text: The neptunium carbides NpC, NpC, and NpC (tentative) have been reported, but have not characterized in detail despite the high importance and utility of actinide carbides as advanced nuclear reactor fuel. NpC is a non-stoichiometric compound, and could be better labelled as NpC (0.82 ≤ "x" ≤ 0.96). It may be obtained from the reaction of neptunium hydride with graphite at 1400 °C or by heating the constituent elements together in an electric arc furnace using a tungsten electrode. It reacts with excess carbon to form pure NpC. NpC is formed from heating NpO in a graphite crucible at 2660–2800 °C.


title: Neptunium

text: Neptunium reacts with hydrogen in a similar manner to its neighbor plutonium, forming the hydrides NpH (face-centered cubic) and NpH (hexagonal). These are isostructural with the corresponding plutonium hydrides, although unlike PuH, the lattice parameters of NpH become greater as the hydrogen content ("x") increases. The hydrides require extreme care in handling as they decompose in a vacuum at 300 °C to form finely divided neptunium metal, which is pyrophoric.


title: Neptunium

text: Being chemically stable, neptunium phosphates have been investigated for potential use in immobilizing nuclear waste. Neptunium pyrophosphate (α-NpPO), a green solid, has been produced in the reaction between neptunium dioxide and boron phosphate at 1100 °C, though neptunium(IV) phosphate has so far remained elusive. The series of compounds NpM(PO), where M is an alkali metal (Li, Na, K, Rb, or Cs), are all known. Some neptunium sulfates have been characterized, both aqueous and solid and at various oxidation states of neptunium (IV through VI have been observed). Additionally, neptunium carbonates have been investigated to achieve a better understanding of the behavior of neptunium in geological repositories and the environment, where it may come into contact with carbonate and bicarbonate aqueous solutions and form soluble complexes.


title: Neptunium

text: A few organoneptunium compounds are known and chemically characterized, although not as many as for uranium due to neptunium's scarcity and radioactivity. The most well known organoneptunium compounds are the cyclopentadienyl and cyclooctatetraenyl compounds and their derivatives. The trivalent cyclopentadienyl compound Np(CH)·THF was obtained in 1972 from reacting Np(CH)Cl with sodium, although the simpler Np(CH) could not be obtained. Tetravalent neptunium cyclopentadienyl, a reddish-brown complex, was synthesized in 1968 by reacting neptunium(IV) chloride with potassium cyclopentadienide:


title: Neptunium

text: It is soluble in benzene and THF, and is less sensitive to oxygen and water than Pu(CH) and Am(CH). Other Np(IV) cyclopentadienyl compounds are known for many ligands: they have the general formula (CH)NpL, where L represents a ligand.


title: Neptunium

text: Neptunocene, Np(CH), was synthesized in 1970 by reacting neptunium(IV) chloride with K(CH). It is isomorphous to uranocene and plutonocene, and they behave chemically identically: all three compounds are insensitive to water or dilute bases but are sensitive to air, reacting quickly to form oxides, and are only slightly soluble in benzene and toluene. Other known neptunium cyclooctatetraenyl derivatives include Np(RCH) (R = ethanol, butanol) and KNp(CH)·2THF, which is isostructural to the corresponding plutonium compound. In addition, neptunium hydrocarbyls have been prepared, and solvated triiodide complexes of neptunium are a precursor to many organoneptunium and inorganic neptunium compounds.


title: Neptunium

text: There is much interest in the coordination chemistry of neptunium, because its five oxidation states all exhibit their own distinctive chemical behavior, and the coordination chemistry of the actinides is heavily influenced by the actinide contraction (the greater-than-expected decrease in ionic radii across the actinide series, analogous to the lanthanide contraction).


title: Neptunium

text: Few neptunium(III) coordination compounds are known, because Np(III) is readily oxidized by atmospheric oxygen while in aqueous solution. However, sodium formaldehyde sulfoxylate can reduce Np(IV) to Np(III), stabilizing the lower oxidation state and forming various sparingly soluble Np(III) coordination complexes, such as ·11HO, ·HO, and .


title: Neptunium

text: Many neptunium(IV) coordination compounds have been reported, the first one being , which is isostructural with the analogous uranium(IV) coordination compound. Other Np(IV) coordination compounds are known, some involving other metals such as cobalt (·8HO, formed at 400 K) and copper (·6HO, formed at 600 K). Complex nitrate compounds are also known: the experimenters who produced them in 1986 and 1987 produced single crystals by slow evaporation of the Np(IV) solution at ambient temperature in concentrated nitric acid and excess 2,2′-pyrimidine.


title: Neptunium

text: The coordination chemistry of neptunium(V) has been extensively researched due to the presence of cation–cation interactions in the solid state, which had been already known for actinyl ions. Some known such compounds include the neptunyl dimer ·8HO and neptunium glycolate, both of which form green crystals.


title: Neptunium

text: Neptunium(VI) compounds range from the simple oxalate (which is unstable, usually becoming Np(IV)) to such complicated compounds as the green . Extensive study has been performed on compounds of the form , where M represents a monovalent cation and An is either uranium, neptunium, or plutonium.


title: Neptunium

text: Since 1967, when neptunium(VII) was discovered, some coordination compounds with neptunium in the +7 oxidation state have been prepared and studied. The first reported such compound was initially characterized as ·"n"HO in 1968, but was suggested in 1973 to actually have the formula ·2HO based on the fact that Np(VII) occurs as in aqueous solution. This compound forms dark green prismatic crystals with maximum edge length 0.15–0.4 mm.


title: Neptunium

text: Most neptunium coordination complexes known in solution involve the element in the +4, +5, and +6 oxidation states: only a few studies have been done on neptunium(III) and (VII) coordination complexes. For the former, NpX and (X = Cl, Br) were obtained in 1966 in concentrated LiCl and LiBr solutions, respectively: for the latter, 1970 experiments discovered that the ion could form sulfate complexes in acidic solutions, such as and ; these were found to have higher stability constants than the neptunyl ion (). A great many complexes for the other neptunium oxidation states are known: the inorganic ligands involved are the halides, iodate, azide, nitride, nitrate, thiocyanate, sulfate, carbonate, chromate, and phosphate. Many organic ligands are known to be able to be used in neptunium coordination complexes: they include acetate, propionate, glycolate, lactate, oxalate, malonate, phthalate, mellitate, and citrate.


title: Neptunium

text: Analogously to its neighbours, uranium and plutonium, the order of the neptunium ions in terms of complex formation ability is Np > ≥ Np > . (The relative order of the middle two neptunium ions depends on the ligands and solvents used.) The stability sequence for Np(IV), Np(V), and Np(VI) complexes with monovalent inorganic ligands is F > > SCN > > Cl > ; the order for divalent inorganic ligands is > > . These follow the strengths of the corresponding acids. The divalent ligands are more strongly complexing than the monovalent ones. can also form the complex ions [] (M = Al, Ga, Sc, In, Fe, Cr, Rh) in perchloric acid solution: the strength of interaction between the two cations follows the order Fe > In > Sc > Ga > Al. The neptunyl and uranyl ions can also form a complex together.


title: Neptunium

text: An important use of Np is as a precursor in plutonium production, where it is irradiated with neutrons to create Pu, an alpha emitter for radioisotope thermal generators for spacecraft and military applications. Np will capture a neutron to form Np and beta decay with a half-life of just over two days to Pu.


title: Neptunium

text: Pu also exists in sizable quantities in spent nuclear fuel but would have to be separated from other isotopes of plutonium. Irradiating neptunium-237 with electron beams, provoking bremsstrahlung, also produces quite pure samples of the isotope plutonium-236, useful as a tracer to determine plutonium concentration in the environment.


title: Neptunium

text: Neptunium is fissionable, and could theoretically be used as fuel in a fast-neutron reactor or a nuclear weapon, with a critical mass of around 60 kilograms. In 1992, the U.S. Department of Energy declassified the statement that neptunium-237 "can be used for a nuclear explosive device". It is not believed that an actual weapon has ever been constructed using neptunium. As of 2009, the world production of neptunium-237 by commercial power reactors was over 1000 critical masses a year, but to extract the isotope from irradiated fuel elements would be a major industrial undertaking.


title: Neptunium

text: In September 2002, researchers at the Los Alamos National Laboratory briefly created the first known nuclear critical mass using neptunium in combination with shells of enriched uranium (uranium-235), discovering that the critical mass of a bare sphere of neptunium-237 "ranges from kilogram weights in the high fifties to low sixties," showing that it "is about as good a bomb material as [uranium-235]." The United States Federal government made plans in March 2004 to move America's supply of separated neptunium to a nuclear-waste disposal site in Nevada.


title: Neptunium

text: Neptunium accumulates in commercial household ionization-chamber smoke detectors from decay of the (typically) 0.2 microgram of americium-241 initially present as a source of ionizing radiation. With a half-life of 432 years, the americium-241 in an ionization smoke detector includes about 3% neptunium after 20 years, and about 15% after 100 years.


title: Neptunium

text: Neptunium-237 is the most mobile actinide in the deep geological repository environment. This makes it and its predecessors such as americium-241 candidates of interest for destruction by nuclear transmutation. Due to its long half-life, neptunium will become the major contributor of the total radiotoxicity in 10,000 years. As it is unclear what happens to the containment in that long time span, an extraction of the neptunium would minimize the contamination of the environment if the nuclear waste could be mobilized after several thousand years.


title: Neptunium

text: Neptunium does not have a biological role, as it has a short half-life and occurs only in small traces naturally. Animal tests showed that it is not absorbed via the digestive tract. When injected it concentrates in the bones, from which it is slowly released.


title: Neptunium

text: Finely divided neptunium metal presents a fire hazard because neptunium is pyrophoric; small grains will ignite spontaneously in air at room temperature.


title: 2006 Canadian federal election

text: The 2006 Canadian federal election was held on January 23, 2006, to elect members to the House of Commons of Canada of the 39th Parliament of Canada.


title: 2006 Canadian federal election

text: New details of the sponsorship scandal were released through the Gomery Commission, and the three opposition parties aimed to bring down Liberal Prime Minister Paul Martin's minority government, contending that it was corrupt. On November 28, 2005, Martin's government was defeated on a motion of non-confidence. The day later, Martin met with Governor General Michaëlle Jean to dissolve parliament, triggering an unusual winter election.


title: 2006 Canadian federal election

text: The Conservative Party, that was formed in 2003 from the merger of the Progressive Conservative Party and the Canadian Alliance, scored its first-ever victory as they won the greatest number of seats in the House of Commons, winning 124 out of 308 (40.3% of seats), up from 99 seats in 2004. Due to the emerging details of the sponsorship scandal, as well as a unified right-of-centre party, the Tories led by Stephen Harper went on to end over 12 years of Liberal rule. Harper formed the smallest minority government in Canadian history (in terms of proportion of seats), becoming the 22nd prime minister of Canada. The New Democratic Party experienced a modest boost in support whereas the Bloc Québécois' seat count nearly stayed the same.


title: 2006 Canadian federal election

text: This unusual winter general election was caused by a motion of no confidence passed by the House of Commons on November 28, 2005, with Canada's three opposition parties contending that the Liberal government of Prime Minister Paul Martin was corrupt. The following morning Martin met with Governor General Michaëlle Jean, who then dissolved parliament, summoned the next parliament, and ordered the issuance of writs of election. The last set January 23, 2006, as election day and February 13 as the date for return of the writs. The campaign was almost eight weeks in length, the longest in two decades, in order to allow time for the Christmas and New Year holidays.


title: 2006 Canadian federal election

text: Recent political events, most notably testimony to the Gomery Commission investigating the sponsorship scandal, significantly weakened the Liberals (who, under Martin, had formed the first Liberal minority government since the Trudeau era) by allegations of criminal corruption in the party. The first Gomery report, released November 1, 2005, had found a "culture of entitlement" to exist within the Government. Although the next election was not legally required until 2009, the opposition had enough votes to force the dissolution of Parliament earlier. While Prime Minister Martin had committed in April 2005 to dissolve Parliament within a month of the tabling of the second Gomery Report (which was released on schedule on February 1, 2006), all three opposition parties—the Conservatives, Bloc Québécois, and New Democratic Party (NDP)—and three of the four independents decided that the issue at hand was how to correct the Liberal corruption, and the motion of non-confidence passed 171–133.


title: 2006 Canadian federal election

text: Most observers believed only the Liberals and the Conservatives were capable of forming a government in this election, although Canadian political history is not without examples of wholly unexpected outcomes, such as Ontario's provincial election in 1990. However, with the exception of the Unionist government of 1917 (which combined members of both the Conservatives and the Liberals), at the Federal stage, only Liberals or Conservatives have formed government. With the end of the campaign at hand, pollsters and pundits placed the Conservatives ahead of the Liberals.


title: 2006 Canadian federal election

text: Prime Minister Paul Martin's Liberals hoped to recapture their majority, and this appeared likely at one point during the campaign; but it would have required holding back Bloc pressure in Quebec plus picking up some new seats there while also gaining seats in English Canada, most likely in rural Ontario and southwestern British Columbia. Towards the end of the campaign, even high-profile Liberals were beginning to concede defeat, and the best the Liberals could have achieved was a razor-thin minority.


title: 2006 Canadian federal election

text: Stephen Harper's Conservatives succeeded in bringing their new party into power in Canada. While continuing weaknesses in Quebec and urban areas rightfully prompted most observers to consider a Conservative majority government to be mathematically difficult to achieve, early on, Harper's stated goal was to achieve one nonetheless. Though the Conservatives were ahead of the Liberals in Quebec, they remained far behind the Bloc Québécois, and additional gains in rural and suburban Ontario would have been necessary to meet Stephen Harper's goal. The polls had remained pretty well static over the course of December, with the real shift coming in the first few days of the New Year. That is when the Conservatives took the lead and kept it for the rest of the campaign.


title: 2006 Canadian federal election

text: Harper started off the first month of the campaign with a policy-per-day strategy, which included a GST reduction and a child-care allowance. The Liberals opted to hold any major announcements until after the Christmas holidays; as a result, Harper dominated media coverage for the first weeks of the campaign and was able to define his platform and insulate it from expected Liberal attacks. On December 27, 2005, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police announced it was investigating allegations that Liberal Finance Minister Ralph Goodale's office had engaged in insider trading before making an important announcement on the taxation of income trusts. The RCMP indicated that they had no evidence of wrongdoing or criminal activity from any party associated with the investigation, including Goodale. However, the story dominated news coverage for the following week and prevented the Liberals from making their key policy announcements, allowing the Conservatives to refocus their previous attacks about corruption within the Liberal party. The Conservatives soon found themselves leading in the polls. By early January, they made a major breakthrough in Quebec, pushing the Liberals to second place.


title: 2006 Canadian federal election

text: As their lead solidified, media coverage of the Conservatives was much more positive, while Liberals found themselves increasingly criticized for running a poor campaign and making numerous gaffes.


title: 2006 Canadian federal election

text: The NDP has claimed that last minute tactical voting cost them several seats last time, as left-of-centre voters moved to the Liberals so that they could prevent a Harper-led government. Jack Layton avoided stating his party's goal was to win the election outright, instead calling for enough New Democrats to be elected to hold the balance of power in a Liberal or Conservative minority government. Political commentators have long argued that the NDP's main medium-term goal is to serve as junior partners to the Liberals in Canada's first-ever true coalition government. NDP leader Jack Layton was concerned last time over people voting Liberal so that they could avoid a Conservative government. Over the course of the last week of the campaign, Jack Layton called on Liberal voters disgusted with the corruption to "lend" their votes to the NDP to elect more NDP members to the House and hold the Conservatives to a minority.


title: 2006 Canadian federal election

text: The Bloc Québécois had a very successful result in the 2004 election, with the Liberals reduced to the core areas of federalist support in portions of Montreal and the Outaouais. Oddly enough, this meant that there were comparatively few winnable Bloc seats left—perhaps eight or so—for the party to target. With provincial allies the Parti Québécois widely tipped to regain power in 2007, a large sovereigntist contingent in the House could play a major role in reopening the matter of Quebec independence. The Bloc Québécois only runs candidates in the province of Quebec. However, Gilles Duceppe's dream of winning 50%+ of the popular vote was dashed when the polls broke after the New Year, and the Conservatives became a real threat to that vision in Quebec.


title: 2006 Canadian federal election

text: In addition to the four sitting parties, the Green Party of Canada ran candidates in all 308 federal ridings for the second consecutive election. Though the Greens had been an official party since the 1984 election, this campaign was the first in which they had stable financial support with which to campaign. After a breakthrough in the 2004 election, they exceeded the minimum 2% of the popular vote to receive federal funding. Supporters and sympathisers criticize that the party were not invited to the nationally televised debates even with its official status. The party has occasionally polled as high as 19% in British Columbia and 11% nationwide. Critics of the Green Party contend that, by drawing away left-of-centre votes, the Green Party actually assists the Conservative Party in some ridings. The Greens deny this.


title: 2006 Canadian federal election

text: An early election seemed likely because the 2004 federal election, held on June 28, 2004, resulted in the election of a Liberal minority government. In the past, minority governments have had an average lifespan of a year and a half. Some people considered the 38th parliament to be particularly unstable. It involved four parties, and only very implausible ideological combinations (e.g., Liberals + Conservatives; Liberals + BQ; Conservatives + BQ + NDP) could actually command a majority of the seats, a necessity if a government is to retain power. From its earliest moments, there was some threat of the government falling as even the Speech from the Throne almost resulted in a non-confidence vote.


title: 2006 Canadian federal election

text: The Liberal government came close to falling when testimony from the Gomery Commission caused public opinion to move sharply against the government. The Bloc Québécois were eager from the beginning to have an early election. The Conservatives announced they had also lost confidence in the government's moral authority. Thus, during much of spring 2005, there was a widespread belief that the Liberals would lose a confidence vote, prompting an election taking place in the spring or summer of 2005.


title: 2006 Canadian federal election

text: In a televised speech on April 21, Martin promised to request a dissolution of Parliament and begin an election campaign within 30 days of the Gomery Commission's final report. The release date of that report would later solidify as February 1, 2006; Martin then clarified that he intended to schedule the election call so as to have the polling day in April 2006.


title: 2006 Canadian federal election

text: Later that week, the NDP, who had initially opposed the budget, opted to endorse Martin's proposal for a later election. The Liberals agreed to take corporate tax cuts out of the budget on April 26 in exchange for NDP support on votes of confidence, but even with NDP support the Liberals still fell three votes short of a majority. However, a surprise defection of former Conservative leadership candidate Belinda Stronach to the Liberal party on May 17 changed the balance of power in the House. Independents Chuck Cadman and Carolyn Parrish provided the last two votes needed for the Liberals to win the budget vote.


title: 2006 Canadian federal election

text: The deal turned out to be rather unnecessary, as the Conservatives opted to ensure the government's survival on the motion of confidence surrounding the original budget, expressing support to the tax cuts and defence spending therein. When Parliament voted on second reading and referral of the budget and the amendment on May 19, the previous events kept the government alive. The original budget bill, C-43, passed easily, as expected, but the amendment bill, C-48, resulted in an equality of votes, and the Speaker of the House broke the tie to continue the parliament. The government never got as close to falling after that date. Third reading of Bill C-48 was held late at night on an unexpected day, and several Conservatives being absent, the motion passed easily, guaranteeing there would be no election in the near future.


title: 2006 Canadian federal election

text: On November 1, John Gomery released his interim report, and the scandal returned to prominence. Liberal support again fell, with some polls registering an immediate ten percent drop. The Conservatives and Bloc thus resumed their push for an election before Martin's April date. The NDP stated that their support was contingent on the Liberals agreeing to move against the private provision of healthcare. The Liberals and NDP failed to come to an agreement, however, and the NDP joined the two other opposition parties in demanding an election.


title: 2006 Canadian federal election

text: However, the Liberals had intentionally scheduled the mandatory "opposition days" (where a specified opposition party controls the agenda) on November 15 (Conservative), November 17 (Bloc Québécois) and November 24 (NDP). These days meant that any election would come over the Christmas season, an unpopular idea. Following negotiations between the opposition parties, they instead issued an ultimatum to the Prime Minister to call an election immediately after the Christmas holidays or face an immediate non-confidence vote which would prompt a holiday-spanning campaign.


title: 2006 Canadian federal election

text: To that end, the NDP introduced a parliamentary motion demanding that the government drop the writ in January 2006 for a February 13 election date; however, only the prime minister has the authority to advise the Governor General on an election date, the government was therefore not bound by the NDP's motion. Martin had indicated that he remained committed to his April 2006 date, and would disregard the motion, which the opposition parties managed to pass, as expected, on November 21 by a vote of 167–129.


title: 2006 Canadian federal election

text: The three opposition leaders had agreed to delay the tabling of the no-confidence motion until the 24th, to ensure that a conference between the government and aboriginal leaders scheduled on the 24th would not be disrupted by the campaign. Parliamentary procedure dictated that the vote be deferred until the 28th. Even if the opposition hadn't put forward the non-confidence motion, the government was still expected to fall—there was to have been a vote on supplementary budget estimates on December 8, and if it had been defeated, loss of Supply would have toppled the Liberals.


title: 2006 Canadian federal election

text: Conservative leader Stephen Harper, the leader of the Opposition, introduced a motion of no confidence on November 24, which NDP leader Jack Layton seconded. The motion was voted upon and passed in the evening of November 28, with all present MPs from the NDP, Bloc Québécois, and Conservatives and 3 Independents (Bev Desjarlais, David Kilgour and Pat O'Brien), voting with a combined strength of 171 votes for the motion and 132 Liberals and one Independent (Carolyn Parrish) voting against. One Bloc Québécois MP was absent from the vote. It is the fifth time a Canadian government has lost the confidence of Parliament, but the first time this has happened on a straight motion of no confidence. The four previous instances have been due to loss of supply or votes of censure.


title: 2006 Canadian federal election

text: Martin visited Governor General Michaëlle Jean the following morning, where he formally advised her to dissolve Parliament and schedule an election for January 23. In accordance with Canadian constitutional practice, she consented (such a request has only been turned down once in Canadian history), officially beginning an election campaign that had been simmering for months.


title: 2006 Canadian federal election

text: Early on in the campaign, polls showed the Liberals with a solid 5–10 point lead over the Conservatives, and poised to form a strong minority government at worst. Around Christmas, after reports of an RCMP investigation into allegations of insider trading within the Finance department, this situation changed dramatically, leading to the opposition parties to consistently attack the Liberals on corruption. Almost at the same time, the Boxing Day shooting, an unusually violent gun fight between rival gangs on December 26 in downtown Toronto (resulting in the death of 15-year-old Jane Creba, an innocent bystander), may have swayed some Ontario voters to support the more hardline CPC policies on crime. The Conservatives enjoyed a fairly significant lead in polls leading up to the election, but the gap narrowed in the last few days.


title: 2006 Canadian federal election

text: Several issues—some long-standing (notably fiscal imbalance, the gun registry, abortion, and Quebec sovereigntism), others recently brought forth by media coverage (including redressing the Chinese Canadian community for long-standing wrongs that forced both parties to back-track on their position in the national and ethnic media, particularly in key British Columbia and Alberta ridings), or court decisions (the sponsorship scandal, same-sex marriages, income trusts, or Canada–United States relations)—took the fore in debate among the parties and also influenced aspects of the parties' electoral platforms.


title: 2006 Canadian federal election

text: Elections Canada later investigated improper election spending by the Conservative Party, which became widely known as the In and Out scandal. In 2011, charges against senior Conservatives were dropped in a plea deal that saw the party and its fundraising arm plead guilty and receive the maximum possible fines, totaling $52,000.


title: 2006 Canadian federal election

text: Prior to and during the election campaign, opinion polling showed variable support for the governing Liberals and opposition Conservatives. In November 2005, the first report by Justice John Gomery was released to the public; subsequently, poll numbers for the Liberals again dropped. Just days later, polling showed the Liberals were already bouncing back; upon the election call, the Liberals held a small lead over the Conservatives and maintained this for much of December. Renewed accusations of corruption and impropriety at the end of 2005 – amid Royal Canadian Mounted Police criminal probes of possible government leaks regarding income trust tax changes and advertising sponsorships – led to an upswing of Conservative support again and gave them a lead over the Liberals, portending a change in government. Ultimately this scandal was linked to a blackberry exchange to a banking official by Liberal candidate Scott Brison. Polling figures for the NDP increased slightly, while Bloc figures experienced a slight dip; figures for the Green Party did not change appreciably throughout the campaign.


title: 2006 Canadian federal election

text: An exit poll was carried out by Ipsos Reid polling firm. The poll overestimated the NDP's support and underestimated the Liberal's support. Here is a results breakdown by demographics:


title: 2006 Canadian federal election

text: The election involved the same 308 electoral districts as in 2004, except in New Brunswick, where the boundary between Acadie—Bathurst and Miramichi was ruled to be illegal. Many of the candidates were also the same: fewer incumbents chose to leave than if they had served a full term, and the parties have generally blocked challenges to sitting MPs for the duration of the minority government, although there had been some exceptions.


title: 2006 Canadian federal election

text: An ongoing issue in Canadian politics is the imbalance between the genders in selection by political parties of candidates. Although in the past some parties, particularly the New Democrats, have focused on the necessity of having equal gender representation in Parliament, no major party has ever nominated as many or more women than men in a given election. In 2006, the New Democrats had the highest percentage of female candidates (35.1%) of any party aside from the Animal Alliance, which only had one candidate, its leader, Liz White. The proportion of female New Democrats elected was greater than the proportion nominated, indicating female New Democrats were nominated in winnable ridings. 12.3% of Conservative candidates and 25.6% of Liberal candidates were female.


title: 2006 Canadian federal election

text: The election was held on January 23, 2006. The first polls closed at 7:00 p.m. ET (0000 UTC); Elections Canada started to publish preliminary results on its website at 10:00 p.m. ET as the last polls closed. Harper was reelected in Calgary Southwest, which he has held since 2002, ensuring that he had a seat in the new parliament. Shortly after midnight (ET) that night, incumbent Prime Minister Paul Martin conceded defeat, and announced that he would resign as leader of the Liberal Party. At 9:30 a.m. on January 24, Martin informed Governor General Michaëlle Jean that he would not form a government and intended to resign as Prime Minister. Later that day, at 6:45 p.m., Jean invited Harper to form a government. Martin formally resigned and Harper was formally appointed and sworn in as Prime Minister on February 6.


title: 2006 Canadian federal election

text: Choosing not to take on the office of Leader of the Opposition, the first defeated Prime Minister who had retained his seat not to do so, Martin stepped down as parliamentary leader of his party on February 1, and the Liberal caucus appointed Bill Graham, MP for Toronto Centre and outgoing Defence Minister, as his interim successor. It was announced a month later that there would be a Liberal leadership convention later in the year, during which Stéphane Dion won the leadership of the Liberal Party. Martin continued to sit as a Member of Parliament representing LaSalle—Émard, the Montreal-area riding he had held since 1988, until his retirement in 2008.


title: 2006 Canadian federal election

text: The elections resulted in a Conservative minority government with 124 seats in parliament with a Liberal opposition and a strengthened NDP. In his speech following the loss, Martin stated he would not lead the Liberal Party of Canada in another election. Preliminary results indicated that 64.9% of registered voters cast a ballot, a notable increase over 2004's 60.9%.


title: 2006 Canadian federal election

text: The NDP won new seats in British Columbia and Ontario as their overall popular vote increased 2% from 2004. The Bloc managed to win almost as many seats as in 2004 despite losing a significant percentage of the vote. Most of the Conservatives' gains were in rural Ontario and Quebec as they took a net loss in the west, but won back the only remaining Liberal seat in Alberta. The popular vote of the Conservatives and Liberals were almost the mirror image of 2004, though the Conservatives were not able to translate this into as many seats as the Liberals did in 2004.


title: 2006 Canadian federal election

text: A judicial recount was automatically scheduled in the Parry Sound—Muskoka riding, where early results showed Conservative Tony Clement only 21 votes ahead of Liberal Andy Mitchell, because the difference of votes cast between the two leading candidates was less than 0.1%. Clement was confirmed as the winner by 28 votes.


title: 2006 Canadian federal election

text: Conservative candidate Jeremy Harrison, narrowly defeated by Liberal Gary Merasty in the Saskatchewan riding of Desnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River by 72 votes, alleged electoral fraud but decided not to pursue the matter. A judicial recount was ordered in the riding, which certified Gary Merasty the winner by a reduced margin of 68 votes.


title: 2006 Canadian federal election

text: David Emerson, elected on January 23 as a Liberal in the British Columbia riding of Vancouver Kingsway, changed parties on February 6 to join the Conservatives before the new Parliament had taken office. He is reflected here as a Liberal.


title: 2006 Canadian federal election

text: André Arthur was elected as an independent candidate in the Quebec riding of Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier.


title: Rex Grossman

text: Rex Daniel Grossman III (born August 23, 1980) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 11 seasons, most notably with the Chicago Bears. He played college football at Florida, where he received consensus All-American honors and made three bowl game appearances, winning the 2002 Orange Bowl. Grossman was selected by the Bears in the first round of the 2003 NFL Draft.


title: Rex Grossman

text: After struggling with injuries during his first three years, Grossman had his most successful season in 2006 when he helped lead the Bears to a Super Bowl appearance in Super Bowl XLI. Due to inconsistent play, however, Grossman lost his starter role the following season. He spent the remainder of his career mostly as a backup, holding his last starting position with the Washington Redskins in 2011.


title: Rex Grossman

text: Grossman was born in Bloomington, Indiana in 1980, the son of Rex Daniel Grossman II and Maureen Grossman. Under the motivation and guidance of his father, he began playing football at an early age in grade school. He originally started his football career as a running back. Despite his success running the ball, his mother asked his coach (his father) to convert him to a quarterback while he was in the sixth grade.


title: Rex Grossman

text: Grossman attended Bloomington High School South, where he played high school football for the Bloomington South Panthers. In three seasons as the Panthers' quarterback, he threw for 7,518 yards and 97 touchdowns. He threw for 3,080 yards and forty-four touchdowns as a senior in 1998, including a game where he threw six touchdowns. His senior season reached its climax when he led the Panthers to a 35–14 victory over the Homestead High School Spartans in the Indiana Class 5A state championship game. Grossman completed seventeen of twenty-six pass attempts for 216 yards and five touchdowns, setting an Indiana record for the most touchdowns thrown in a championship game.


title: Rex Grossman

text: Grossman was recognized as the 1998 Indiana Player of the Year by "USA Today", was ranked among the top fifteen players in the nation by the National Recruiting Advisor, and "Parade" magazine named him to its high school All-America team. He received statewide honors when he was named Indiana's Mr. Football later that year. Bloomington High School South retired his jersey in the summer of 2007 to commemorate his success during the Chicago Bears' 2006 season.


title: Rex Grossman

text: Grossman accepted an athletic scholarship to attend the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida, where he played for coach Steve Spurrier and coach Ron Zook's Florida Gators from 1999 to 2002.


title: Rex Grossman

text: After redshirting his freshman year in 1999, Grossman competed for playing time with returning starter Jesse Palmer and the top high school recruit in the country Brock Berlin, in 2000. Grossman started his first game as a Florida Gator on October 7, 2000 against LSU. Grossman had gotten the opportunity to start after completing 13 of 16 pass attempts for 232 yards and two touchdowns against Mississippi State the week before in the Gators' only SEC conference loss of the season. Grossman solidified his position as Florida's starting quarterback during the next two games by throwing for over 500 yards, eight touchdowns and no interceptions in lopsided wins over LSU and Auburn. He led the Gators to the SEC championship and was named Most Valuable Player of the SEC Championship Game. For the season, Grossman completed 61.8 percent of his passes for 1,866 yards, 21 touchdowns, and only seven interceptions. His passer efficiency rating of 161.8 was the third best in NCAA Division I football.


title: Rex Grossman

text: Grossman passed for over 300 yards in nine consecutive games during his sophomore season in 2001. He led the nation in passing efficiency, passing completion percentage and yards per attempt. Grossman was recognized as a consensus first-team All-American, was voted the Associated Press Player of the Year, and came in second in the balloting for the 2001 Heisman Trophy in one of the closest Heisman votes in the history of the award. At the time, his 55 touchdown passes through his sophomore season were the most in NCAA history. On October 6, 2001, Grossman passed for 464 yards and five touchdowns as No. 2 Florida defeated the No. 18 LSU Tigers 44–15. In a 2006 interview with the "Chicago Tribune", Grossman cited the victory as his most memorable game as a Gator. He finished second to University of Nebraska quarterback Eric Crouch in one of the closest votes in Heisman Trophy history, losing by only 62 votes. He earned accolades as a consensus first-team All-American, the AP National Player-of-the-Year, and finalist for other awards, including the Walter Camp National Player-of-the-Year Award, the Maxwell College Player-of-the-Year Award, and the Davey O'Brien National Quarterback-of-the-Year Award. He ended his sophomore season with a 56–23 victory over the Maryland Terrapins in the 2002 Orange Bowl.


title: Rex Grossman

text: As a junior team captain in 2002, Grossman led the Gators in the famed "Slingin' in the Rain" game against the Tennessee Volunteers, in which he threw three touchdowns and 22 completions in 32 attempts en route to a 30–13 victory over the Vols. Grossman led the Gators to the 2003 Outback Bowl, where they lost to the Michigan Wolverines 38–30 despite his completing 21 of 41 passes for 323 yards and two touchdowns. After the season was over, Grossman decided to forgo his final year of college eligibility and declared for the NFL Draft.


title: Rex Grossman

text: In his three-season college career, Grossman threw for 9,164 yards and seventy-seven touchdowns. He earned a 146.77 passer rating, becoming the third most efficient passer in the Southeastern Conference's history. He was twice chosen by his teammates as the Gators' most valuable player, in 2000 and 2001. In one of a series of articles about the top 100 Gators from the first century of Florida football, "The Gainesville Sun" recognized Grossman as the No. 10 all-time Gator in 2006. He was inducted into the University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame as a "Gator Great" in 2013.


title: Rex Grossman

text: The Chicago Bears selected Grossman during the first round of the 2003 NFL Draft, and he played for the Bears from to . Under the leadership of coach Dick Jauron, Grossman was sidelined as a rookie in favor of veteran quarterbacks Chris Chandler and Kordell Stewart. Grossman only saw playing time during the later portion of the season after the Bears had been eliminated from playoff contention. His season ended when he was forced to leave the final game with a broken finger.


title: Rex Grossman

text: Prior to the start of the 2004 NFL season, the Bears fired Jauron and hired Lovie Smith, who declared Grossman the team's starting quarterback. Grossman was criticized when he threw a game-ending interception against the Detroit Lions on opening day. Criticism of his durability intensified when he damaged his knee ligaments while scrambling for a touchdown against the Minnesota Vikings. The injury forced Grossman to spend the remainder of the season recuperating.


title: Rex Grossman

text: Grossman missed most of the 2005 season after breaking his ankle in a preseason game. On December 18, 2005, Grossman returned to the field, leading the Bears to a 16–3 victory over the Atlanta Falcons. In the following game against the Green Bay Packers, he completed eleven of sixteen passes for 166 yards for a touchdown and one interception in a 24–17 victory. Grossman’s victory enabled the Bears to clinch a playoff berth and the National Football Conference's second playoff seed. In his first playoff game, Grossman struggled to anchor the Bears’ offense, completing 17 of 41 passes for 192 yards for one touchdown and an interception in a 29–21 loss against the Carolina Panthers.


title: Rex Grossman

text: During the 2006 Chicago Bears season, Grossman became the first Bears quarterback to start all sixteen games since Erik Kramer in 1995. In a season dubbed as a ""roller coaster ride"" by Grossman himself, the fourth-year quarterback had several productive performances, which were seemingly diluted by a handful of turnover-ridden games, especially in Week 6 against the Arizona Cardinals, where Grossman fumbled twice and threw four interceptions. While earning a passer rating of at least 100 in seven games, he earned a sub 50 rating in five games during the latter portion of the season. Grossman, who was recognized as the NFC Offensive Player of the Month in September, concluded the season's final month with a 64.4 passer rating, including a zero rating during the season's finale game against the Packers. Grossman's work ethic drew criticism when he admitted that he was not adequately prepared to play and later claimed the game to be "meaningless." After noticing that his words had been misinterpreted, he clarified his statement days later. His inconsistent performance drew criticism, and calls for Smith to bench Grossman in favor of the veteran Brian Griese.


title: Rex Grossman

text: Nevertheless, Smith, who supported Grossman throughout the season, declared that Grossman would remain the Bears' starting quarterback throughout the playoffs, causing much skepticism within the Chicago area. He temporarily silenced his critics by leading the Bears to a 27–24 victory over the Seattle Seahawks, completing 21 of 38 passes for 282 yards and one interception, fumble, and touchdown. The following week, he led the Bears to a 39–14 victory over the New Orleans Saints, which allowed the Bears to claim the NFC Championship and advance to Super Bowl XLI. In the Super Bowl, Grossman completed 20 of 28 passes, including a one-yard touchdown pass. However, in this game he threw two interceptions, including one that was returned for a touchdown, and fumbled twice due to miscues between him and center Olin Kreutz. Despite additional criticism from his detractors, Grossman received the Ed Block Courage Award after the season ended. The award is given to one player from every team who exemplifies commitments to the principles of sportsmanship and courage, and is believed to be positive role models to their community.


title: Rex Grossman

text: Before the 2007 season, Grossman vowed that he would improve his performance by simply "protecting the ball". Smith named him as the team’s starting quarterback for the 2007 season, despite inconsistent and lackluster play throughout the preseason. Grossman struggled in his first three outings of the season, and committed ten turnovers with a 45.2 passer rating. After week three, several news sources reported that Smith demoted him in favor of Brian Griese. The official announcement came the next day, when Smith announced that Griese would start in the team's next game. On November 11, 2007, Grossman reclaimed his first-string role after a shoulder injury sidelined Griese. Though Grossman only played for roughly one half, he led the Bears to a 17–6 victory over the Oakland Raiders with a 59-yard touchdown pass to Bernard Berrian. After reclaiming his starting role, Grossman threw three touchdowns and one interception over the course of three and a half games. He sustained a knee injury during his fifth consecutive start and was replaced once again by Griese. Grossman was forced to relinquish his starting position to Kyle Orton, who had previously temporarily relieved him after his 2005 preseason injury.


title: Rex Grossman

text: Grossman became an unrestricted free agent after the 2007 season, but said he wished to return to the Bears. Bears general manager Jerry Angelo said, "We would like to have Rex back in the mix." He added that Grossman will face additional competition if he returns, emphasizing the team's need for a stable passing game. Smith had also voiced similar opinions. Grossman signed a new one-year contract with the Bears on February 23, 2008. Under terms of the deal, Grossman had a $3 million base salary. The Bears also granted Orton a contract extension and planned to have the two compete for a starting position. On August 18, 2008, after two preseason games, Coach Smith named Orton as the team's starting quarterback for the 2008 season.


title: Rex Grossman

text: Grossman remained the team's back-up quarterback until week nine against the winless Detroit Lions when he was called to replace Orton who left the game due an ankle injury. Grossman completed nine of nineteen passes for 58 yards, including a touchdown and interception. He also scored the game's winning touchdown on a quarterback sneak. During the course of the game, Grossman was repeatedly jeered by Bears fans. After the game, Brian Urlacher defended Grossman, commenting, "We've got a quarterback who comes in off the bench and leads us to a victory, and they boo him right out of the gate. Poor guy. Lucky for him he's resilient and he came back and led us to two scoring drives. But man, it's tough." Lovie Smith named Grossman the team's starting quarterback for the Bears next contest against the Tennessee Titans. Grossman threw one touchdown and interception, and also scored a one-yard rushing touchdown, en route to a 21–14 loss. Grossman received his final snaps of the season in the following week, when he was called to relieve Orton in a 37–3 loss to the Green Bay Packers.


title: Rex Grossman

text: Grossman became a free agent on March 1, 2009. Bears head coach Lovie Smith said that Grossman was not in the team's plans for the 2009 season. During the offseason, Grossman worked out with the Cincinnati Bengals in March, but was not offered a contract. UFLaccess.com reported that Grossman would be participating in drills in a United Football League "Pro Day". However, Grossman's agent, Drew Rosenhaus, denied these claims, stating that "Rex will be playing in the NFL this season. We have not considered any other leagues. He will be on an NFL roster by the start of training camps."


title: Rex Grossman

text: On June 12, Grossman came to terms with the Houston Texans and signed a one-year contract, worth $620,000. Grossman beat out Dan Orlovsky during the preseason for the backup quarterback position. Grossman only played in a single game during the 2009 season, temporarily relieving Matt Schaub in a 23–18 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars. He threw nine passes for three completions, 33 yards, and one interception.


title: Rex Grossman

text: Grossman signed a one-year contract with the Washington Redskins for the 2010 season on March 17, 2010. Grossman made his first appearance for the Redskins against the Detroit Lions on October 31, 2010, but he was sacked and lost a fumble on his first play, which was returned by Lions defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh for a touchdown. On December 17, Redskins coach Mike Shanahan benched Donovan McNabb in favor of Grossman, who had not been a starter since 2008. The Redskins fell behind the Dallas Cowboys early in the game, but Grossman threw for 322 yards, four touchdowns, and two interceptions to erase a 20-point deficit. The Cowboys still managed to win the game, 33–30. Grossman won his second start with Washington in a close and important game for the Jaguars in Jacksonville.


title: Rex Grossman

text: On August 2, 2011, Grossman re-signed with the Redskins. At the end of the 2011 pre-season, after a quarterback battle with John Beck, Grossman was chosen to be the opening day starting quarterback of the Redskins. Grossman started the 2011 season with a win against the New York Giants, completing 21 of 34 attempts while throwing for 305 yards and two touchdowns. Grossman would lead the Redskins to a 3–1 start before being benched in a four-interception week 6 performance against the Eagles in favor of Beck. Grossman returned week 10 in a loss to the Dolphins. He led a last-minute touchdown drive the next week to tie Dallas but lost in overtime. He helped the Redskins snap a six-game skid the next week with a 23–17 win over the Seattle Seahawks in which he threw 314 yards, two interceptions, and two touchdowns.


title: Rex Grossman

text: The Redskins re-signed Grossman to another one-year contract on March 17, 2012. The Redskins drafted Robert Griffin III (second overall) and Kirk Cousins (102nd overall) in the 2012 NFL Draft. Grossman became the team's third-string quarterback and did not play in a single game for the team in 2012.


title: Rex Grossman

text: On April 3, 2013, Grossman signed another one-year contract to stay with the Redskins for 2013. He remained the team's third-string quarterback and primarily served to advise Griffin III and Cousins.


title: Rex Grossman

text: The Cleveland Browns signed Grossman on August 12, 2014 and cut him on August 31. On December 22, the Browns offered Grossman a one-week $53,529 NFL veteran league minimum contract after losing Johnny Manziel and Brian Hoyer to injuries. Grossman passed on the offer in order to spend the holidays in Palm Beach with his family.


title: Rex Grossman

text: On August 26, 2015, Grossman signed a one-year contract with the Atlanta Falcons. The Falcons released him on September 4.


title: Rex Grossman

text: Grossman's gunslinger attitude is illustrated in his desire to throw long passes, similar to his youth idol, Brett Favre. Grossman commented on his non-conservative play style in a 2017 interview stating, "Coach Spurrier instilled in me, don't check down if the big play's there. So that’s kind of how I was born. I always wanted to shoot a three-pointer in basketball, hit a home run in baseball. I don't know why, that's just, like, who I am." During Week 12 of the 2006 season, Grossman threw a game-ending interception while attempting a deep pass to Rashied Davis. However, during a Divisional Round game in the 2006 playoffs, he threw a 68-yard touchdown pass to Berrian on the opening play of the Bears’ second drive.


title: Rex Grossman

text: Additionally, Grossman's ability to elude pursuers and scramble significantly decreased after a season-ending leg injury in 2004. Although he only played three games in 2004, Grossman amassed more rushing yards than he did in sixteen games in 2006. However, he showed his potential to scramble during a game against the St. Louis Rams, after he converted a third and long with a twenty-two yard run. Though the run was the longest of Grossman's career, it only gave him five net yards for the season at that point.


title: Rex Grossman

text: Grossman earned several nicknames over the course of his football career. While at the University of Florida, head coach Steve Spurrier dubbed him "Sexy Rexy." The nickname earned national recognition when teammate Muhsin Muhammad used the nickname while introducing Grossman during a starting line-up segment on "Monday Night Football". Grossman was also infamously known as "Rex Glassman" and "Wrecks Grossman" due to his injury-prone years. After the midpoint of the 2006 season, commentators and fans would refer to Grossman as either ""Good Rex"" or ""Bad Rex"" depending on how he performed in a game.


title: Rex Grossman

text: Grossman's family has a long football history. His father and grandfather were football players for Indiana University. His grandfather, Rex Sr., also played for the Baltimore Colts (1948–1950) and Detroit Lions (1950), playing in 37 games during his career. Grossman resides in Bloomington, Indiana during the offseason with his wife, Alison Miska, to whom he has been married since July 9, 2005. Grossman also has a sister and nephew who live in Lincolnwood, Illinois, and his parents are friends with Archie Manning.


title: Rex Grossman

text: Grossman has been a longtime admirer of former Packers quarterback, Brett Favre and former Bears quarterback Jim Harbaugh. Grossman was also an avid fan of the Indianapolis Colts and Indiana Pacers fan during his childhood. Outside of football, he enjoys playing basketball and watching movies. Additionally, Grossman was a regular guest on FOX News Chicago’s "The Final Word", a Sunday night sports show that is co-hosted by former Bears wide receiver Tom Waddle. He also appeared on the cover of "Sports Illustrated for Kids"' February 2007 issue. The cover featured Grossman with teammates Devin Hester and Tommie Harris posing with bears in a museum exhibit.


title: Rex Grossman

text: It was reported that Grossman absorbed a $680,000 loss on his September 2008 purchase of a 36th floor condo in the Trump International Hotel & Tower Chicago when it sold in January 2010, losing 25% of his initial investment.


title: Rex Grossman

text: On June 28, 2007, Grossman's hometown of Bloomington, Indiana, declared the day "Rex Grossman Day" for his accomplishments in football and the community. For the past four years, Grossman has held a charity golfing event for the Boys & Girls Clubs of America, raising over $100,000 for them.


title: Rex Grossman

text: Grossman and his wife founded Florida Medical Staffing in 2009, a staffing agency for nurses that is based in Delray Beach, Florida.


title: Rex Grossman

text: The following is a list of Grossman's statistics from his regular and postseason games. Grossman has occasionally recorded notable statistics; among all quarterbacks during the 2006 season, Grossman ranked tenth in number of pass attempts, seventh in touchdowns thrown, and third in interceptions. He completed his first full season with a 73.9 quarterback rating. This was better than quarterback ratings of Favre, Peyton Manning, and Terry Bradshaw during their first full seasons; many other quarterbacks have performed similarly or better in their first years, including Grossman's former backup Brian Griese. His 23 touchdowns in one season rank Grossman among the best Bears quarterbacks in franchise history. However, his 20 interceptions in one season are among the most thrown by any Bears’ quarterback in almost two decades. The unusual combination ranked Grossman as statistically the most inconsistent quarterback in almost a decade in 2006. Grossman has the NFL record for worst passer rating in a victory with at least 15 passing attempts, recording a 1.3 rating in a 23–13 Chicago Bears win over the Minnesota Vikings on December 3, 2006. In the same year, Grossman became the first quarterback to throw more interceptions than completions in a game with more than 10 passing attempts.


title: Book size

text: The size of a book is generally measured by the height against the width of a leaf, or sometimes the height and width of its cover. A series of terms is commonly used by libraries and publishers for the general sizes of modern books, ranging from "folio" (the largest), to "quarto" (smaller) and "octavo" (still smaller). Historically, these terms referred to the format of the book, a technical term used by printers and bibliographers to indicate the size of a leaf in terms of the size of the original sheet. For example, a quarto (from Latin "quartō", ablative form of "quartus", fourth) historically was a book printed on sheets of paper folded in half twice, with the first fold at right angles to the second, to produce 4 leaves (or 8 pages), each leaf one fourth the size of the original sheet printed – note that a "leaf" refers to the single piece of paper, whereas a "page" is one side of a leaf. Because the actual format of many modern books cannot be determined from examination of the books, bibliographers may not use these terms in scholarly descriptions.


title: Book size

text: In the hand press period (up to about 1820) books were manufactured by printing text on both sides of a full sheet of paper and then folding the paper one or more times into a group of leaves or "gathering". The binder would sew the gatherings (sometimes also called "signatures") through their inner hinges and attached to cords in the spine to form the book block. Before the covers were bound to the book, the block of text pages was sometimes trimmed along the three unbound edges to open the folds of the paper and to produce smooth edges for the book. When the leaves were not trimmed, the reader would have to cut open the leaf edges using a knife.


title: Book size

text: Books made by printing two pages of text on each side of a sheet of paper, which is then folded once to form two leaves or four pages, are referred to as "folios" (from Latin, "foliō", ablative of "folium", leaf). Those made by printing four text pages on each side of a sheet of paper and folding the paper twice to form a gathering containing four leaves or eight pages are called "quartos" (fourths). Similarly, books made by printing eight pages of text on each side of a sheet, which was then folded three times to form gatherings of eight leaves or sixteen pages each, are called "octavos". The size of the resulting pages in these cases depends, of course, on the size of the full sheet used to print them and how much the leaves were trimmed before binding, but where the same size paper is used, folios are the largest, followed by quartos and then octavos. The proportion of leaves of quartos tends to be squarer than that of folios or octavos.


title: Book size

text: These various production methods are referred to as the format of the book. These terms are often abbreviated, using 4to for quarto, 8vo for octavo, and so on. The octavo format, with eight leaves per gathering, has half the page size of the quarto format before trimming. Smaller formats include the "duodecimo" (12mo or "twelvemo"), with twelve leaves per sheet and pages one-third the size of the quarto format, and the "sextodecimo" (16mo or "sixteenmo"), with sixteen leaves per sheet, half the size of the octavo format and one quarter the size of the quarto. The vast majority of books were printed in the folio, quarto, octavo or duodecimo formats.


title: Book size

text: There are many variations in how such books were produced. For example, folios were rarely made by simply binding up a group of two leaf gatherings; instead several printed leaf pairs would be inserted within another, to produce a larger gathering of multiple leaves that would be more convenient for binding. For example, three two-leaf printed sheets might be inserted in a fourth, producing gatherings of eight leaves or sixteen pages each. Bibliographers still refer to such books as folios (and not octavos) because the original full sheets were folded once to produce two leaves, and describe such gatherings as "folios in 8s". Similarly, a book printed as an octavo, but bound with gatherings of four leaves each, is called an "octavo in 4s".


title: Book size

text: In determining the format of a book, bibliographers will study the number of leaves in a gathering, their proportion and sizes and also the arrangement of the chain lines and watermarks in the paper.


title: Book size

text: In order for the pages to come out in the correct order, the printers would have to properly lay out the pages of type in the printing press. For example, to print two leaves in folio containing pages 1 through 4, the printer would print pages 1 and 4 on one side of the sheet and, after that has dried, print pages 2 and 3 on the other side. If a printer was printing a folio in 8s, as described above, he would have to print pages 1 and 16 on one side of a leaf with pages 2 and 15 on the other side of that leaf, etc. The arrangement of the pages of type in the press is referred to as the "imposition" and there are a number of methods of imposing pages for the various formats, some of which involve cutting the printed pages before binding.


title: Book size

text: As printing and paper technology developed, it became possible to produce and to print on much larger sheets or rolls of paper and it may not be apparent (or even possible to determine) from examination of a modern book how the paper was folded to produce them. For example, a modern novel may consist of gatherings of sixteen leaves, but may actually have been printed with sixty-four pages on each side of a very large sheet of paper. Similarly, the actual printing format cannot be determined for books that are perfect bound, where every leaf in the book is completely cut out (i.e., not conjugate to another leaf as in gatherings) and is glued into the spine. Modern books are commonly called "folio", "quarto" and "octavo" based simply on their size rather than the format in which they were actually produced, if that can even be determined. Scholarly bibliographers may describe such books based on the number of leaves in each gathering (eight leaves per gathering forming an octavo), even where the actual number of pages printed on the original sheet is unknown or may reject the use of these terms for modern books entirely.


title: Book size

text: Today, octavo and quarto are the most common book sizes, but many books are produced in larger and smaller sizes as well. Other terms for book size have developed, an "elephant folio" being up to tall, an "atlas folio" , and a "double elephant folio" tall.


title: Book size

text: According to the 2003 Guinness World Records, the largest book in the world was "" by Michael Hawley. Its size is .


title: Book size

text: According to the 2007 Guinness World Records, the largest published book in the world was "The Little Prince" printed in Brazil in 2007. Its size is .


title: Book size

text: According to the 2012 Guinness World Records, the largest book in the world was "This the Prophet Mohamed" made in Dubai, UAE. Its size is . Though larger than "The Little Prince", the two hold separate records, as "This the Prophet Mohamed" was not published.


title: Book size

text: The largest surviving medieval manuscript is the "Codex Gigas" or 'Devil's Manuscript', measured at 92 cm tall by 50 cm wide (36 inches tall by 20 inches wide).


title: Book size

text: During the hand press period, full sheets of printing paper were manufactured in a great variety of sizes which were given a number of names, such as "pot", "demy", "foolscap", "crown", etc. These were not standardized and the actual sizes varied across countries and times.


title: Book size

text: The size and proportions of a book depend on the size of the original full sheet. If a sheet by is used to print a quarto, the resulting untrimmed pages, will be approximately half as large in each dimension: width and height . An octavo page, oriented a quarter turn from the full sheet, would have height ½ × 19 = and width ¼ × 25 = . The sizes of books of the same format will differ in proportion to the full sheets used to print them. For example, a typical octavo printed in Italy or France in the is roughly the size of a modern mass market paperback book, but an English octavo is noticeably larger, more like a modern trade paperback or hardcover novel.


title: Book size

text: which uses a basis sheet of which is, confusingly if not explained by the source, half the text/book stock sheet of ), and in which "size" refers to the dimensions of the cover (trimmed pages will be somewhat smaller, often by about or ). The words before octavo signify the traditional names for unfolded paper sheet sizes. Other dimensions may exist as well. "US Trade" size corresponds with octavo and is popular for hardbacks. "Mass market paperback" corresponds with duodecimo.


title: Book size

text: A common paperback size in the UK is B-format, which is used, for example, by Penguin Classics. This contrasts with A-format, which is slightly narrower than ISO B6, and C-format.


title: Book size

text: Formerly the descriptions octavo, quarto, duodecimo, etc. were used (see table under United States above).


title: Book size

text: In book construction, Japan uses a mixture of ISO A-series, JIS B-series, and several traditional Japanese paper sizes. A- and B-series signatures are folded from a sheet slightly larger than ISO A1 and JIS B1, respectively, then trimmed to size. The most commonly encountered sizes are listed below.


title: Centene Corporation

text: Centene Corporation is a publicly traded managed care company based in St. Louis, Missouri. It serves as an intermediary for government-sponsored and privately insured health care programs. Centene ranked No. 26 on the 2021 Fortune 500 .


title: Centene Corporation

text: Centene was founded by Elizabeth Brinn as the Managed Health Services in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1984. After the death of Brinn, the non-profit organization was sold to investors, with the proceeds going to the Betty Brinn Foundation, which subsequently became a major shareholder in Centene. In 1996, Michael F. Neidorff joined the company as chief executive.


title: Centene Corporation

text: Centene went public in December 2001. In 2006, the firm acquired US Script, a pharmacy benefits manager. The company later merged US Script with subsidiaries to form its Envolve divisions. In 2011, the firm formed Centurion, a provider of correctional health care services, as a joint venture with MHM Services. In 2018, it acquired MHM Services, including its stake in Centurion. Centene began offering state-run Medicaid programs. through Affordable Care Act exchanges in 2014.


title: Centene Corporation

text: On July 2, 2015, Centene announced it would acquire Health Net. In March 2016, it finalized its acquisition On September 12, 2017, it announced that it would acquire Fidelis Care, a nonprofit insurer in New York, for US$3.75 billion. In March 2019, it announced plans to acquire WellCare for US$17.3 billion. On January 4, 2021, it was announced that it would acquire Magellan Health for $2.2 billion. On January 4, 2022, the acquisition was completed.


title: Centene Corporation

text: In the United Kingdom, Centene began to acquire local healthcare services in 2017. In 2019, Centene, through its subsidiary MH Services, took a 40% stake in Circle Health, as part of a deal which created a national network of over 50 private hospitals. In early 2021, Operose Health, a UK subsidiary of Centene, took over a group of London practices, AT Medics.


title: Centene Corporation

text: In May 2022, Centene announced that they have divested two pharmacy organisations as the company exits the pharmacy benefit management business. Centene divested Mangellan Rx and PANTHERx Rare for a total of $2.8 billion.


title: Centene Corporation

text: In June 2021, an article in the Ohio Capital Journal reported that CEO Michael Neidorff was the highest paid healthcare executive in the United States in 2020, earning nearly $25 million.


title: Centene Corporation

text: In December 2021, Politan Capital Management took a $900 million stake in Centene. Following the agreement, CEO Michael Neidorff announced plans to retire by the end of 2022.


title: Centene Corporation

text: In 2014, Fox News alleged that Superior HealthPlan of Texas denied coverage of an infant's surgery for brain cancer at Texas Children's Hospital. Superior HealthPlan is a joint-venture of Centene and Community Health Centers Network LP, which provides services for Medicaid recipients. The article reported that Superior HealthPlan had previously paid healthcare claims for the infant at the hospital, although Superior HealthPlan stated that it did not cover procedures at the facility. Three days after the article was published, Superior HealthPlan reversed its decision and covered the surgery.


title: Centene Corporation

text: In January 2018, a class action lawsuit accused Centene's Ambetter marketplace healthcare plans of misleading enrollees about plan benefits. According to the lawsuit, people who bought Centene's plans had difficulty finding medical providers that accepted patients covered under Centene's policies.


title: Centene Corporation

text: In December 2018, Centene was sued by two pension funds alleging that Centene's acquisition of Health Net resulted in damages to Centene and exposed the company to potential liability. The suit also alleged that Centene concealed that Health Net owed approximately $1B in past tax liabilities to California and was under investigation for Medicare fraud at the time of the acquisition.


title: Centene Corporation

text: In 2022 Operose Health had almost 600,000 NHS patients and was the largest supplier of GP services to the NHS. It was accused of putting patients at risk by prioritising profit, specifically by hiring physician associates, because they were cheaper than GPs. At Operose practices the average number of full time equivalent GPs per patients is about half the average in English practices. Sir Sam Everington said he was worried to see physician associates saying they were not receiving the supervision they needed. The practice had a backlog of thousands of medical test results and hospital letters on their computer systems. Operose said 97% of its practices were rated "good" or "outstanding" by the Care Quality Commission.


title: Centene Corporation

text: In April 2021, Health Net Federal Services, a subsidiary of Centene, agreed to pay $97M to settle allegations that it had duplicated or inflated claims submitted to the Department of Veterans Affairs.


title: Centene Corporation

text: Between June 2021 and January 2022, Centene agreed to settlements with several states on behalf of their subsidiary, Envolve, a pharmacy benefit manager, including Ohio, Mississippi, Illinois, Arkansas, and New Hampshire to resolve allegations of overpayments to the PBM from the states' Medicaid programs. The settlements have totaled over $191 million.


title: Centene Corporation

text: In December 2021, Centene agreed to pay $27.6M to Kansas to settle allegations that it had failed to disclose discounts and used other strategies to obtain more profit from Kansas' Medicaid program.


title: Centene Corporation

text: In September of 2022, Centene Corporation will pay more than $14 million to Massachusetts's to resolve claims that it overcharged the state Medicaid program, MassHealth, millions of dollars for pharmacy benefits and services provided by subsidiary companies.


title: People's Justice Party (Malaysia)

text: The People's Justice Party (, often known simply as KEADILAN or PKR) is a reformist political party in Malaysia, formed in 2003 by a merger of the National Justice Party and the older Malaysian People's Party. The party was led by Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail and increased its parliamentary representation from one seat to 31 seats in the 2008 general election, until the five-year political ban imposed on former Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim was lifted on 14 April 2008. The party is the second largest party after Democratic Action Party (DAP) in the Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition that formed the government after defeating Barisan Nasional, which had ruled the country for 60 years since independence in the 2018 election.


title: People's Justice Party (Malaysia)

text: However, defections from partnering parties caused the PH coalition to lose power after 22 months before finishing its first term, culminating in the 2020 Malaysian political crisis. The PH coalition, which the PKR was part of, returned to power again with Anwar Ibrahim serving as the 10th Prime Minister of Malaysia, although with a smaller majority leading it to form a coalition government with political rivals after the 2022 Malaysian general election.


title: People's Justice Party (Malaysia)

text: The party enjoys strong support from urban states such as Selangor, Penang and Johor. It also enjoys huge support from the capital city of Kuala Lumpur. It promotes an agenda with a strong emphasis on social justice and anti-corruption, and adopts a platform that seeks to abolish the New Economic Policy and replace it with a policy with an emphasis on a non-ethnic approach in poverty eradication and correcting economic imbalances.


title: People's Justice Party (Malaysia)

text: The economy of Malaysia was affected by the 1997 Asian financial crisis. The finance minister at the time, Anwar Ibrahim (also the deputy prime minister), instituted a series of economic reforms and austerity measures in response. These actions were exacerbated when he tabled controversial amendments to the Anti-Corruption Act that sought to increase the powers of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC). Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad disagreed with these measures and ultimately sacked Anwar from all his posts. This incident and the circumstances in which it happened led to a public outcry in what became known as the "Reformasi" movement, but it also resulted in the arrest and subsequent incarceration of Anwar on what many believed to be politically motivated charges of sexual misconduct and corruption.


title: People's Justice Party (Malaysia)

text: Building on the momentum of the "Reformasi", a political movement called the Social Justice Movement () was launched on 10 December 1998. It was led by Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, wife of Anwar. But, facing difficulties in registering Adil as a political party, the reformasi movement took over a small dormant party formed in 1991, Ikatan Masyarakat Islam Malaysia, and relaunched it as the National Justice Party () on 4 April 1999, just in time to take part in the 1999 general elections. The party has been noted as having rough similarities with the now-defunct multi-racial social democratic Parti Keadilan Masyarakat Malaysia. The party was joined by the Democratic Action Party, the Malaysian People's Party and the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party in a broadly based electoral alliance known as Barisan Alternatif to take on the ruling BN coalition in the 1999 general elections.


title: People's Justice Party (Malaysia)

text: Between 27 and 30 September 1999, seven activists, including Keadilan leaders; Vice-President Tian Chua, N. Gobalakrishnan, Youth leader Mohd Ezam Mohd Nor, Fairus Izuddin and Dr Badrul Amin Baharun; were arrested and as a result prevented from contesting in the elections. Further arrests were made on 10 April 2001 and those arrested were subsequently charged and incarcerated under the Internal Security Act. They became known as the Reformasi 10.


title: People's Justice Party (Malaysia)

text: The party entered the campaign with many of its key leaders under arrest and as a result saw it winning only five parliamentary seats in the elections despite gaining 11.67% of the total votes cast. The Barisan Alternatif as a whole gained 40.21% of the total votes cast with PAS gaining 27 seats and DAP gaining ten seats.


title: People's Justice Party (Malaysia)

text: The post election period saw negotiations between KeADILan and "Parti Rakyat Malaysia" on a possible merger. Despite some opposition in both parties to the move, a 13-point Memorandum of Understanding was eventually signed by the two parties on 5 July 2002. On 3 August 2003, the new merged entity was officially launched and assumed its current name. Somehow, as PRM had yet to be de-registered by the authorities, the remained dissidents convened a National Congress in Johor Bahru and elected a new Executive Committee led by former PRM youth leader, Hassan Abdul Karim to resume political activities on 17 April 2005.