title: Persecution of Falun Gong

text: The persecution of Falun Gong has attracted a large amount of international attention from governments and non-government organizations. Human rights organizations, such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, have raised acute concerns over reports of torture and ill-treatment of practitioners in China and have also urged the UN and international governments to intervene to bring an end to the persecution.


title: Persecution of Falun Gong

text: The United States Congress has passed multiple resolutions calling for an immediate end to the campaign against Falun Gong practitioners both in China and abroad.


title: Persecution of Falun Gong

text: At a rally on 12 July 2012, U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), Chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, called on the Obama Administration to confront the Chinese leadership on its human rights record, including its oppression of Falun Gong practitioners. "It is essential that friends and supporters of democracy and human rights continue to show their solidarity and support, by speaking out against these abuses", she said.


title: Persecution of Falun Gong

text: Look, I think you can make the connections that... they are using prisoners, and they need prisoners who are relatively healthy, they need prisoners who are relatively younger. It doesn't take a great stretch of the imagination that some Falun Gong [practitioners] are going to be among those who are going to be killed for parts. It just follows, because remember you can't take very old people as sources of organs and you can't take people who are very sick. They, Falun Gong, are in part younger, and by lifestyle, healthier. I would be astounded if they weren't using some of those prisoners as sources of organs.


title: Persecution of Falun Gong

text: In 2008 Israel passed a law banning the sale and brokerage of organs. The law also ended funding, through the health insurance system, of transplants in China for Israeli nationals.


title: Persecution of Falun Gong

text: Falun Gong's response to the persecution in China began in July 1999 with appeals to local, provincial, and central petitioning offices in Beijing. It soon progressed to larger demonstrations, with hundreds of Falun Gong practitioners traveling daily to Tiananmen Square to perform Falun Gong exercises or raise banners in defense of the practice. These demonstrations were invariably broken up by security forces, and the practitioners involved were arrested—sometimes violently—and detained. By 25 April 2000, a total of more than 30,000 practitioners had been arrested on the square; seven hundred Falun Gong followers were arrested during a demonstration in the square on 1 January 2001. Public protests continued well into 2001. Writing for "The Wall Street Journal", Ian Johnson wrote that "Falun Gong faithful have mustered what is arguably the most sustained challenge to authority in 50 years of Communist rule."


title: Persecution of Falun Gong

text: By late 2001, demonstrations in Tiananmen Square had become less frequent, and the practice was driven deeper underground. As public protest fell out of favor, practitioners established underground "material sites", which would produce literature and DVDs to counter the portrayal of Falun Gong in the official media. Practitioners then distribute these materials, often door-to-door. The production, possession, or distribution of these materials is frequently grounds for security agents to incarcerate or sentence Falun Gong adherents.


title: Persecution of Falun Gong

text: In 2002, Falun Gong activists in China tapped into television broadcasts, replacing regular state-run programming with their own content. One of the more notable instances occurred in March 2002, when Falun Gong practitioners in Changchun intercepted eight cable television networks in Jilin Province, and for nearly an hour, televised a program titled "Self-Immolation or a Staged Act?". All six of the Falun Gong practitioners involved were captured over the next few months. Two were killed immediately, while the other four were all dead by 2010 as a result of injuries sustained while imprisoned.


title: Persecution of Falun Gong

text: Outside China, Falun Gong practitioners established international media organizations to gain wider exposure for their cause and challenge narratives of the Chinese state-run media. These include the "Epoch Times" newspaper, New Tang Dynasty Television, and Sound of Hope radio station. According to Zhao, through the "Epoch Times" it can be discerned how Falun Gong is building a "de facto media alliance" with China's democracy movements in exile, as demonstrated by its frequent printing of articles by prominent overseas Chinese critics of the PRC government. In 2004, the "Epoch Times" published "The Nine Commentaries", a collection of nine editorials which presented a critical history of Communist Party rule. This catalyzed the Tuidang movement, which encourages Chinese citizens to renounce their affiliations to the Chinese Communist Party, including ex post facto renunciations of the Communist Youth League and Young Pioneers. The "Epoch Times" claims that tens of millions have renounced the Communist Party as part of the movement, though these numbers have not been independently verified.


title: Persecution of Falun Gong

text: In 2007, Falun Gong practitioners in the United States formed Shen Yun Performing Arts, a dance and music company that tours internationally. Falun Gong software developers in the United States are also responsible for the creation of several popular censorship-circumvention tools employed by internet users in China.


title: Persecution of Falun Gong

text: Falun Gong Practitioners outside China have filed dozens of lawsuits against Jiang Zemin, Luo Gan, Bo Xilai, and other Chinese officials alleging genocide and crimes against humanity. According to International Advocates for Justice, Falun Gong has filed the largest number of human rights lawsuits in the 21st century and the charges are among the most severe international crimes defined by international criminal laws. , 54 civil and criminal lawsuits were under way in 33 countries. In many instances, courts have refused to adjudicate the cases on the grounds of sovereign immunity. In late 2009, however, separate courts in Spain and Argentina indicted Jiang Zemin and Luo Gan on charges of "crimes of humanity" and genocide, and asked for their arrest—the ruling is acknowledged to be largely symbolic and unlikely to be carried out. The court in Spain also indicted Bo Xilai, Jia Qinglin and Wu Guanzheng.


title: Persecution of Falun Gong

text: Falun Gong practitioners and their supporters also filed a lawsuit in May 2011 against the technology company Cisco Systems, alleging that the company helped design and implement a surveillance system for the Chinese government to suppress Falun Gong. Cisco denied customizing their technology for this purpose.


title: Enalapril

text: Enalapril, sold under the brand name Vasotec among others, is an ACE inhibitor medication used to treat high blood pressure, diabetic kidney disease, and heart failure. For heart failure, it is generally used with a diuretic, such as furosemide. It is given by mouth or by injection into a vein. Onset of effects are typically within an hour when taken by mouth and last for up to a day.


title: Enalapril

text: Common side effects include headache, tiredness, feeling lightheaded with standing, and cough. Serious side effects include angioedema and low blood pressure. Use during pregnancy is believed to result in harm to the baby. It is in the angiotensin-converting-enzyme (ACE) inhibitor family of medications.


title: Enalapril

text: Enalapril was patented in 1978, and came into medical use in 1984. It is on the World Health Organization's List of Essential Medicines. In 2020, it was the 329th most commonly prescribed medication in the United States, with more than 800thousand prescriptions. As of August 2021, enalapril is available as a generic medicine in the US.


title: Enalapril

text: Enalapril has an L-proline moiety as a part of the molecule which is responsible for the oral bioavailability of the drug. It is a pro-drug, which means that it exerts its function after being metabolized. The "-OCH2CH3" part of the molecule will split during the metabolism and at the carbon will be a carboxylate, which then interacts with the Zn+2 site of the ACE Enzyme. This structural feature and mechanism of metabolism that must occur before the drug can inhibit the enzyme explains why it has a greater duration of action than another similar drug used for the same indication, Captopril. Enalapril has a slower onset of action than Captopril but a greater duration of action. However, unlike Captopril, Enalapril does not have a thiol moiety.


title: Enalapril

text: Enalapril is used to treat hypertension, symptomatic heart failure, and asymptomatic left ventricular dysfunction. ACE-inhibitors (including enalapril) have demonstrated ability to reduce the progression and worsening of existing chronic kidney disease in the presence of proteinuria/microalbuminuria (protein in the urine, a biomarker for chronic kidney disease). This renal protective effect is not seen in the absence of proteinuria/microalbuminuria, including in diabetic populations. The benefit has been particularly demonstrated in patients with hypertension and/or diabetes, and is likely to be seen in other populations (although further studies and subgroup analyses of existing studies are needed). It is widely used in chronic kidney failure. Furthermore, enalapril is an emerging treatment for psychogenic polydipsia. A double-blind, placebo-controlled trial showed that when used for this purpose, enalapril led to decreased water consumption (determined by urine output and osmolality) in 60% of patients.


title: Enalapril

text: Enalapril is pregnancy category D. Some evidence suggests it will cause injury and death to a developing fetus. Patients are advised not to become pregnant while taking enalapril and to notify their doctors immediately if they become pregnant. In pregnancy, enalapril may result in damage to the fetus's kidneys and resulting oligohydramnios (not enough amniotic fluid). Enalapril is secreted in breast milk and is not recommended for use while breastfeeding.


title: Enalapril

text: The most common side effects of enalapril include increased serum creatinine (20%), dizziness (2–8%), low blood pressure (1–7%), syncope (2%), and dry cough (1–2%). The most serious common adverse event is angioedema (swelling) (0.68%) which often affects the face and lips, endangering the patient's airway. Angioedema can occur at any point during treatment with enalapril, but is most common after the first few doses. Angioedema and fatality therefrom are reportedly higher among black people. Agranulocytosis has been observed with Enalapril.


title: Enalapril

text: Normally, angiotensin I is converted to angiotensin II by an angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE). Angiotensin II constricts blood vessels, increasing blood pressure. Enalaprilat, the active metabolite of enalapril, inhibits ACE. Inhibition of ACE decreases levels of angiotensin II, leading to less vasoconstriction and decreased blood pressure.


title: Enalapril

text: Squibb developed the first ACE inhibitor, captopril, but it had adverse effects such as a metallic taste (which, as it turned out, was due to the sulfhydryl group). Merck & Co. developed enalapril as a competing prodrut.


title: Enalapril

text: Enalaprilat was developed partly to overcome these limitations of captopril. The sulfhydryl moiety was replaced by a carboxylate moiety, but additional modifications were required in its structure-based design to achieve a potency similar to captopril. Enalaprilat, however, had a problem of its own in that it had poor oral availability. This was overcome by the researchers at Merck by the esterification of enalaprilat with ethanol to produce enalapril.


title: Enalapril

text: Merck introduced enalapril to market in 1981; it became Merck's first billion dollar-selling drug in 1988. The patent expired in 2000, opening the way for generics.


title: Viva Bianca

text: Viva Bianca (born Viva Skubiszewski; 17 November 1983, ; ) is an Australian actress best known for her role as Ilithyia on the Starz network series "" and "".


title: Viva Bianca

text: Bianca graduated from the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts where she received a best actress award. She is the daughter of Cezary Skubiszewski, a Polish Australian composer for film, television and orchestra. Bianca cites Cate Blanchett and Heath Ledger as Australian actors who have influenced her.


title: Viva Bianca

text: Bianca has appeared in many Australian TV Series such as "Eugenie Sandler P.I.", "Marshall Law", "All Saints" and "The Strip". She has also appeared in the Australian films "Accidents Happen" and "Bad Bush".


title: Viva Bianca

text: Bianca starred as Ilithyia, the daughter of senator Albinius and wife of Glaber, in the Starz originals series "" and "". She starred opposite Kirk Barker in "A Prince for Christmas" (2015).


title: Bedivere

text: Bedivere ( or ; ; ; , also Bedevere and other spellings) is one of the earliest characters to be featured in the legend of King Arthur, originally described in several Welsh texts as the one-handed great warrior named Bedwyr Bedrydant. Arthurian chivalric romances, inspired by his portrayal in the chronicle "Historia Regum Britanniae", portray Bedivere as a Knight of the Round Table of King Arthur who serves as Arthur's marshal and is frequently associated with his brother Lucan and his cousin Griflet as well as with Kay. In the English versions, Bedivere notably assumes Griflet's hitherto traditional role from French romances as the one who eventually returns Excalibur to the Lady of the Lake after Arthur's last battle.


title: Bedivere

text: In early Welsh sources, Bedwyr Bedrydant ("Bedwyr of the Perfect Sinew") is a handsome, one-handed warrior under Arthur's command. His father is given as Pedrawd or Bedrawd, and his children as Amhren and Eneuawg, both members of Arthur's court.


title: Bedivere

text: One of the earliest direct references to Bedwyr can be found in the 10th-century poem "Pa gur" which recounts the exploits of a number of Arthur's men, including Bedwyr, Cei (Kay) and Manawydan. Of Bedwyr, this narrative says:


title: Bedivere

text: The 9th-century version of "Englynion y Beddau" ("The Stanzas of the Graves") gives Bedwyr's final resting place on Tryfan. In the hagiography of Cadoc, Bedwyr is alongside Arthur and Cei in dealing with King Gwynllyw of Gwynllwg's abduction of Gwladys from her father's court in Brycheiniog. A possible allusion to Bedwyr could be found in the reference to Bedwyr's well in the 9th-century "Marwnad Cadwallon ap Cadfan". The Welsh Triads name Bedwyr as "Battle-Diademed", and a superior to Drystan (Tristan), Hueil mab Caw and even Cei. A catchphrase often quipped by Cei, "by the hand of my friend" is likely a reference to Bedwyr's disability.


title: Bedivere

text: Bedwyr is a prominent character in the tale of "Culhwch and Olwen", in which he appears at the head of Arthur's court list with his friend Cei and is described as one of the most handsome men in the world (save for Arthur and Drych fab Cibddar), and the wielder of a magic lance. He is called upon to accompany Culhwch on his quest to win Olwen's hand in marriage and is the first to strike the giant Ysbaddaden with the poisoned spear meant for Culhwch. Bedwyr goes on to assist Culhwch in completing the impossible tasks given to him by Ysbaddaden; he helps Cei and Goreu fab Custennin kill Wrnach the Giant, rescues Mabon ap Modron from his imprisonment, retrieves the hairs of Dillus the Bearded, captures the Cauldron of Diwrnach during Arthur's raid on Ireland, and takes part in the hunting of the monstrous boar Twrch Trwyth with Arthur's dog Cavall at his side. The tale ends with the completion of the tasks, the humiliation and death of Ysbaddaden, and the marriage of Culhwch and Olwen.


title: Bedivere

text: Bedivere is one of Arthur's loyal allies in Geoffrey of Monmouth's "Historia Regum Britanniae" and maintains this position in much later Arthurian literature. He helps Arthur and Kay fight the Giant of Mont Saint-Michel, and joins Arthur in his war against Emperor Lucius of Rome, in which he dies fighting. In Thomas Malory's "Le Morte d'Arthur", 'Bedwyr' (as he is initially known) plays a similar role against the Giant, before disappearing from the text to return rather ingloriously as Sir Bedivere to accompany Arthur at his end. In the original French romances, the later role belonged to his cousin, Griflet.


title: Bedivere

text: In several English versions of Arthur's death, including Malory's, the Alliterative "Morte Arthure" and the Stanzaic "Morte Arthur", Bedivere and Arthur are among the few survivors of the Battle of Camlann (or of Salisbury). After the battle, at the request of the mortally wounded king, Bedivere casts away the sword Excalibur that Arthur had received from the Lady of the Lake. However, he does this only after twice thinking the sword too valuable to Britain to throw into the water. When he reports that nothing in particular happened, King Arthur admonishes him, for Arthur knows that the mystical sword would create some supernatural event. Finally, Bedivere casts the sword into the water, at which a hand arises and catches the sword mid-air, then sinks into the waters, and Arthur is thus assured that the sword has been returned. In Malory's telling, this act summons Morgan and Nimue, who take the king to Avalon. Upon the presumed death of Arthur, Bedivere enters a hermitage led by the Mordred-ousted Archbishop of Canterbury, where he spends the remainder of his life. There he will be joined by Lancelot and some of his kindred knights, who will resort to it in their own penitence.


title: Bedivere

text: Some modern authors such as Rosemary Sutcliff ("Sword at Sunset"), Gillian Bradshaw ("Hawk of May"), and Mary Stewart ("The Merlin Trilogy") give him Lancelot's traditional role as Guinevere's lover, Lancelot having been added to the cycle too late to seem historical.


title: Barry Sadler

text: Barry Allen Sadler (November 1, 1940 – November 5, 1989) was an American soldier, singer/songwriter, and author. Sadler served as a Green Beret medic, achieving the rank of Staff Sergeant. He served in the Vietnam War from late December 1964 to late May 1965. Most of his work has a military theme, and he is best known for his patriotic "Ballad of the Green Berets," a #1 hit in 1966. He died at age 49 after being shot in the head in Guatemala City.


title: Barry Sadler

text: Sadler was born in Carlsbad, New Mexico, the second son of John Sadler and Bebe Littlefield of Phoenix, Arizona. According to Sadler's autobiography, "I'm A Lucky One", his father developed a successful plumbing and electrical business in Carlsbad and owned several farms in the area. He describes his mother as managing restaurants and bars, and at times, games in casinos.


title: Barry Sadler

text: The family relocated often. His parents divorced when Sadler was five, and his father died not long after at age 36 from a rare form of nervous system cancer. His mother moved her family around as she worked at temporary jobs in Arizona, California, Colorado, New Mexico, and Texas.


title: Barry Sadler

text: Sadler dropped out of high school in the tenth grade in Leadville, Colorado. In 1958, at 17, he enlisted in the U.S. Air Force. He finished his General Educational Development certificate while in the Air Force. He trained as a radar technician in 1958 and was stationed in Japan. After his discharge in 1961, Sadler enlisted in the U.S. Army, and volunteered for Airborne and Special Forces, opting to be a medic.


title: Barry Sadler

text: When he completed Airborne training, he underwent the lengthy training as a combat medic at Fort Sam Houston, Texas, Fort Jackson, South Carolina, and Fort Bragg, North Carolina. In May 1965, while he was on a combat patrol southeast of Pleiku in the Central Highlands, he was severely wounded in the knee by a feces-covered punji stick. Sadler dressed the wound with a cotton swab and an adhesive bandage, then completed the patrol; however, he subsequently developed a serious infection in his leg, and was evacuated to Clark Air Base Hospital in The Philippines. Doctors were forced to surgically enlarge the wound to drain it and to administer large doses of penicillin. Sadler returned to Fort Bragg where he made a complete recovery.


title: Barry Sadler

text: Sadler recorded his famous song, "The Ballad of the Green Berets", a patriotic tune about the Special Forces, in December 1965. The writer Robin Moore, author of the novel "The Green Berets," which became a 1968 movie, "The Green Berets," featuring John Wayne, helped Sadler with lyrics and with getting a recording contract with RCA Victor Records. "The Ballad of the Green Berets" arranged as a choral version by Ken Darby was the title song of the movie. Moore also wrote an introduction to Sadler's autobiography, "I'm A Lucky One," which he dictated to Tom Mahoney and was published by Macmillan Company in 1967. "The Ballad of the Green Berets" was released by RCA Victor Records in January 1966, and became a fast-selling single, holding No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart for five consecutive weeks from March 5 to April 2, 1966. The record sold more than nine million copies.


title: Barry Sadler

text: The song was a great success in many U.S. cities; it scored five weeks at No. 1 on the weekly Good Guys music survey at WMCA, the top popular music radio station in New York during 1966. He sang it for his television début on January 30 on "The Ed Sullivan Show". Sadler had recorded an album of similarly themed songs which he titled "Ballads of the Green Berets". It sold a million copies during the first five weeks of its release. Sadler had a minor success, the similarly patriotic-themed "The 'A' Team", later the same year when that single scored #28.


title: Barry Sadler

text: According to the ribbons and badges worn by Sadler in a televised performance of "The Ballad of the Green Berets," he received the following awards for his military service: Purple Heart Medal, Army Good Conduct Medal, Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, Air Force Longevity Service Award, Combat Infantryman Badge, Parachutist Badge, and the South Vietnamese Parachutist Badge.


title: Barry Sadler

text: The ribbons shown in Sadler's television performance mentioned above did not represent all of Sadler's awards. Sadler was also entitled to the National Defense Service Medal and the Vietnam Campaign Medal. He had the option of replacing the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal with the Vietnam Service Medal. He is also seen in photographs in uniform wearing an Air Force Good Conduct Medal ribbon from his pre-Army service in the USAF.


title: Barry Sadler

text: Sadler was unable to score anything close to a major success with his other songs, though "The A-Team" was a Top 30 "Billboard" chart single during 1966. He was honorably discharged from the Army in May 1967, and moved with his family to Tucson, Arizona. After minor acting parts in four episodes of two TV western series, "Death Valley Days" and "The High Chaparral", and in the 1968 caper film "Dayton's Devils" starring Rory Calhoun, he moved to Nashville and began writing pulp fiction novels. His popular Casca series is about the title character, Casca Rufio Longinius (a combination of Longinus and the Wandering Jew), supposedly the Roman soldier who thrust his lance into Christ's side during the crucifixion. Casca is cursed to remain a soldier until the Second Coming. The novels feature Casca's life from biblical times to the 20th century. Sadler wrote the first twenty-two books. After his death, the series was continued with books by other authors.


title: Barry Sadler

text: On December 1, 1978, at about 11 p.m., Sadler killed a country music songwriter named Lee Emerson Bellamy with one gunshot to the head. The shooting was the culmination of a month-long dispute the men had concerning Darlene Sharpe, who was Bellamy's former girlfriend, and Sadler's lover at the time. Bellamy made many harassing telephone calls to Sadler and Sharpe, had one violent confrontation in a Nashville bar's parking lot, and threatened both their lives.


title: Barry Sadler

text: On the night in question, Bellamy made several harassing telephone calls, including one to the Natchez Trace Restaurant where Sadler and Sharpe were having dinner and drinks with two friends. That resulted in Sadler asking a bartender to telephone the police, who never responded. Bellamy later went to Sharpe's apartment complex and knocked on the door. Sadler exited through a side door. On seeing Sadler, Bellamy fled to his van. It was at that time, Sadler testified, that he saw a flash of metal. Believing it to be a gun, he fired one shot. The bullet struck Bellamy right between the eyes, and he died several hours later in a Nashville hospital. It turned out that Bellamy was unarmed. According to court records, Sadler had then placed a handgun in Bellamy's van, presumably to strengthen his claim of self-defense. After a plea bargain, on June 1, 1979, Sadler was convicted of voluntary manslaughter for the death of Bellamy, and sentenced to from 4 to 5 years in prison. His legal team worked to lower the sentence, which a judge reduced to just 30 days in the county workhouse. He served 28 days. Sadler was sued for wrongful death by Bellamy's stepson, and was ordered to pay compensation of about $10,000.


title: Barry Sadler

text: Sadler moved to Guatemala City in 1984. He continued to write and publish his "Casca" books and produced a never-released self-defense video. On September 7, 1988, he was shot in the head while sitting in a cab in Guatemala City. His manager believed it to be a robbery. Sadler was flown to the United States by friends in a private jet.


title: Barry Sadler

text: He was operated on at the Nashville Veterans Administration (VA) Hospital, and remained in a coma for about six weeks. After emerging from the coma, Sadler was a quadriplegic and had suffered significant brain damage. He was finally released in January 1989, but his family reported him missing. A dispute over who would be his legal guardian erupted between his wife and mother and resulted in a judge mandating a psychiatric evaluation. A few days later, he was found, in time to be present at a competency hearing.


title: Barry Sadler

text: After being moved to the Cleveland VA Hospital for specialized treatment, he was removed from the hospital by two former Green Berets and his mother, Blanche Sadler. After a contentious court battle waged by his wife and children, a court in Tennessee ruled that Sadler be put under the care of an independent guardian. He was moved to the VA Hospital in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, in February 1989, but he never recovered from his injury. He died there of cardiac arrest on November 5, 1989, four days after his 49th birthday. Barry Sadler was survived by his wife, Lavona, a daughter, Brooke, and two sons, Thor and Baron. His son, Thor, served in the United States Army as a Military Intelligence Officer.


title: ECCO

text: ECCO Sko A/S is a Danish shoe manufacturer and retailer founded in 1963 by Karl Toosbuy, in Bredebro, Denmark. The company began with only the production of footwear, but has since expanded into leather production, as well as accessories and small leather goods. ECCO opened its first retail store in Denmark in 1982. ECCO is family-owned and employs 21,300 people worldwide, with product sales in 99 countries from 2,250 shops and 14,000 sales points.


title: ECCO

text: ECCO was established in 1963 by Karl Toosbuy in the small town of Bredebro in southern Denmark. Throughout the 1980s, the company expanded its operations internationally. By 1982, sales reached 1 million pairs of shoes annually. In order to accommodate the increasing demand, additional production was established in Portugal, and under license in Japan and Cyprus.


title: ECCO

text: ECCO built its own research and design center, named "Futura", in Denmark in 1996, since 2009 Portugal is the R&D center of ECCO and opened its own beamhouse in Indonesia and tannery in Thailand a few years later. In 1998 the first flagship retail store opened on Oxford Street, in London. By 2000, ECCO owned every step of the production process, from design and leather production to branded retail sales.


title: ECCO

text: ECCO owns tanneries in the Netherlands, Thailand, Indonesia and China. ECCO’s tanneries are among the leading manufacturers of leather to the fashion, sports, and car industries. ECCO has engaged in a research program to reduce the environmental impact of the tanning process.


title: ECCO

text: Approximately 98% of ECCO's shoes are produced in its own shoe factories in Portugal, Slovakia, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam and China, and some under licence in India.


title: ECCO

text: In 2016 Adidas filed a trademark suit against ECCO in American courts. However, in 2018, Adidas voluntarily dismissed its claims.


title: ECCO

text: ECCO shoes and leather goods are sold in 99 countries. The company has its operations into markets in Asia and in Eastern and Central Europe, Canada, South America, and the United States. Their products are sold through more than 2,250 mono-brand stores, as well as independent retailers and online sales.


title: ECCO

text: In 1998, ECCO faced problems with a large quantity of shoes. Due to a production fault involving the composition of sole material – hydrolysis of the molded polyurethane – the soles disintegrated after only one to five years. After discovering the source of the problem, ECCO changed the composition of its sole material.


title: ECCO

text: In March, 2022, ECCO CEO, Panos Mytaros, decided, together with the board of directors and the family owners, to continue its operations in Russia despite the ongoing war in Ukraine, and despite a collective economic war including heavy sanctions directed towards Russia by the European Union and the United States. As a consequence, with effect from April 16th 2023, ECCO will lose its 30 year long status as purveyor to the Danish royal family.


title: Dynamic time warping

text: In time series analysis, dynamic time warping (DTW) is an algorithm for measuring similarity between two temporal sequences, which may vary in speed. For instance, similarities in walking could be detected using DTW, even if one person was walking faster than the other, or if there were accelerations and decelerations during the course of an observation. DTW has been applied to temporal sequences of video, audio, and graphics data — indeed, any data that can be turned into a linear sequence can be analyzed with DTW. A well-known application has been automatic speech recognition, to cope with different speaking speeds. Other applications include speaker recognition and online signature recognition. It can also be used in partial shape matching applications.


title: Dynamic time warping

text: In general, DTW is a method that calculates an optimal match between two given sequences (e.g. time series) with certain restriction and rules:


title: Dynamic time warping

text: The optimal match is denoted by the match that satisfies all the restrictions and the rules and that has the minimal cost, where the cost is computed as the sum of absolute differences, for each matched pair of indices, between their values.


title: Dynamic time warping

text: The sequences are "warped" non-linearly in the time dimension to determine a measure of their similarity independent of certain non-linear variations in the time dimension. This sequence alignment method is often used in time series classification. Although DTW measures a distance-like quantity between two given sequences, it doesn't guarantee the triangle inequality to hold.


title: Dynamic time warping

text: In addition to a similarity measure between the two sequences, a so called "warping path" is produced, by warping according to this path the two signals may be aligned in time. The signal with an original set of points "X"(original), "Y"(original) is transformed to "X"(warped), "Y"(warped). This finds applications in genetic sequence and audio synchronisation. In a related technique sequences of varying speed may be averaged using this technique see the average sequence section.


title: Dynamic time warping

text: This example illustrates the implementation of the dynamic time warping algorithm when the two sequences s and t are strings of discrete symbols. For two symbols x and y, codice_1 is a distance between the symbols, e.g. codice_1 = formula_7.


title: Dynamic time warping

text: We sometimes want to add a locality constraint. That is, we require that if codice_6 is matched with codice_7, then formula_8 is no larger than w, a window parameter.


title: Dynamic time warping

text: We can easily modify the above algorithm to add a locality constraint (differences <mark>marked</mark>).


title: Dynamic time warping

text: However, the above given modification works only if formula_9 is no larger than w, i.e. the end point is within the window length from diagonal. In order to make the algorithm work, the window parameter w must be adapted so that formula_10 (see the line marked with (*) in the code).


title: Dynamic time warping

text: The DTW algorithm produces a discrete matching between existing elements of one series to another. In other words, it does not allow time-scaling of segments within the sequence. Other methods allow continuous warping. For example, Correlation Optimized Warping (COW) divides the sequence into uniform segments that are scaled in time using linear interpolation, to produce the best matching warping. The segment scaling causes potential creation of new elements, by time-scaling segments either down or up, and thus produces a more sensitive warping than DTW's discrete matching of raw elements.


title: Dynamic time warping

text: The time complexity of the DTW algorithm is formula_11, where formula_12 and formula_13 are the lengths of the two input sequences. The 50 years old quadratic time bound was recently broken, an algorithm due to Gold and Sharir enables computing DTW in formula_14 time and space for two input sequences of length formula_12.


title: Dynamic time warping

text: This algorithm can also be adapted to sequences of different lengths. Despite this improvement, it was shown that a strongly subquadratic running time of the form formula_16 for some formula_17 cannot exist unless the Strong exponential time hypothesis fails.


title: Dynamic time warping

text: While the dynamic programming algorithm for DTW requires formula_11 space in a naive implementation, the space consumption can be reduced to formula_19 using Hirschberg's algorithm.


title: Dynamic time warping

text: Fast techniques for computing DTW include Early Abandoned and Pruned DTW, PrunedDTW, SparseDTW, FastDTW, and the MultiscaleDTW.


title: Dynamic time warping

text: A common task, retrieval of similar time series, can be accelerated by using lower bounds such as LB_Keogh, LB_Improved, LB_Enhanced, LB_Webb or LB_Petitjean. However, the Early Abandon and Pruned DTW algorithm reduces the degree of acceleration that lower bounding provides and sometimes renders it ineffective.


title: Dynamic time warping

text: In a survey, Wang et al. reported slightly better results with the LB_Improved lower bound than the LB_Keogh bound, and found that other techniques were inefficient. Subsequent to this survey, the LB_Enhanced bound was developed that is always tighter than LB_Keogh while also being more efficient to compute. LB_Petitjean is the tightest known lower bound that can be computed in linear time.


title: Dynamic time warping

text: Averaging for dynamic time warping is the problem of finding an average sequence for a set of sequences.


title: Dynamic time warping

text: For more than two sequences, the problem is related to the one of the multiple alignment and requires heuristics.


title: Dynamic time warping

text: COMASA efficiently randomizes the search for the average sequence, using DBA as a local optimization process.


title: Dynamic time warping

text: A nearest-neighbour classifier can achieve state-of-the-art performance when using dynamic time warping as a distance measure.


title: Dynamic time warping

text: In functional data analysis, time series are regarded as discretizations of smooth (differentiable) functions of time. By viewing the observed samples at smooth functions, one can utilize continuous mathematics for analyzing data. Smoothness and monotonicity of time warp functions may be obtained for instance by integrating a time-varying radial basis function, thus being a one-dimensional diffeomorphism. Optimal nonlinear time warping functions are computed by minimizing a measure of distance of the set of functions to their warped average. Roughness penalty terms for the warping functions may be added, e.g., by constraining the size of their curvature. The resultant warping functions are smooth, which facilitates further processing. This approach has been successfully applied to analyze patterns and variability of speech movements.


title: Dynamic time warping

text: Another related approach are hidden Markov models (HMM) and it has been shown that the Viterbi algorithm used to search for the most likely path through the HMM is equivalent to stochastic DTW.


title: Dynamic time warping

text: DTW and related warping methods are typically used as pre- or post-processing steps in data analyses. If the observed sequences contain both random variation in both their values, shape of observed sequences and random temporal misalignment, the warping may overfit to noise leading to biased results. A simultaneous model formulation with random variation in both values (vertical) and time-parametrization (horizontal) is an example of a nonlinear mixed-effects model. In human movement analysis, simultaneous nonlinear mixed-effects modeling has been shown to produce superior results compared to DTW.


title: Dynamic time warping

text: Due to different speaking rates, a non-linear fluctuation occurs in speech pattern versus time axis, which needs to be eliminated. DP matching is a pattern-matching algorithm based on dynamic programming (DP), which uses a time-normalization effect, where the fluctuations in the time axis are modeled using a non-linear time-warping function. Considering any two speech patterns, we can get rid of their timing differences by warping the time axis of one so that the maximal coincidence is attained with the other. Moreover, if the warping function is allowed to take any possible value, distinction can be made between words belonging to different categories. So, to enhance the distinction between words belonging to different categories, restrictions were imposed on the warping function slope.


title: Dynamic time warping

text: Unstable clocks are used to defeat naive power analysis. Several techniques are used to counter this defense, one of which is dynamic time warping.


title: Dynamic time warping

text: Dynamic time warping is used in finance and econometrics to assess the quality of the prediction versus real-world data.


title: Bianna Golodryga

text: Bianna Vitalievna Golodryga (Russian: Бианна Витальевна Голодрыга; Romanian: Bianna Golodrîga) born June 15, 1978) is a Moldovan-born American journalist and news anchor who is currently serving as a senior global affairs analyst at CNN. She was previously the news and finance anchor at Yahoo! News. She was also previously co-anchor of the weekend edition of ABC's "Good Morning America" and a co-host of "CBS This Morning".


title: Bianna Golodryga

text: Golodryga was born to a working-class family of Bessarabian Jews in Căușeni, Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic (now independent Moldova), the only child of Zhanna and Vitaly Golodryga.


title: Bianna Golodryga

text: In 1980, when she was 18 months old, her family left the Soviet Union as political refugees, each with $75. They settled in Houston, Texas, after initially moving to Galveston, Texas. She has returned to Moldova only once since then, visiting her grandparents and cousins in 1988. That same year, her grandmother joined them in Houston. Her mother is the chief digital and administrative officer for Phillips 66, and previously worked as chief information officer of Hess Corporation and her father, a mechanical engineer, was a consultant for DuPont.


title: Bianna Golodryga

text: Golodryga attended the High School for the Performing and Visual Arts in Houston but was interested in becoming a journalist instead of an actress. She was inspired to look closer at what was going on in the world after performing in a play about AIDS written by her teacher. She graduated from the University of Texas at Austin in May 2000, with a degree in Russian/East European & Eurasian studies and a minor in economics. She is fluent in Russian.


title: Bianna Golodryga

text: Golodryga had planned for a career in the financial services industry after she graduated from college. She became a licensed trader and worked at several financial companies. After a sharp drop in the market, however, she decided to pursue journalism. She moved to New York in February 2001 and began working as a producer at CNBC, where she later became an on-air correspondent.


title: Bianna Golodryga

text: In 2004, Golodryga was named one of the top journalists under the age of 30. She was a correspondent for ABC between 2007 and 2010, and was named co-anchor of the weekend edition of "Good Morning America" in May 2010, following the departure of former co-anchor Kate Snow, who went to work for NBC.


title: Bianna Golodryga

text: In April 2013, Golodryga was the first person to interview Anzor Tsarnaev, the father of Boston Marathon bombers Tamerlan Tsarnaev and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, and called this "the most emotional moment" of her career. At first, she assisted her colleagues with the proper pronunciation of the name, but then was tasked with calling Anzor in Chechnya. He had very few details to offer but called her back the next day, trying to find more information about what was happening and whether or not Dzhokhar, who had been taken into custody severely injured, was still alive.


title: Bianna Golodryga

text: Golodryga served as weekend co-anchor of "Good Morning America" until August 4, 2014, when she left it to join the business and finance news department of Yahoo! News. She was a guest host on "Way Too Early" and was a regular contributor to "Morning Joe" on MSNBC. In 2017 she was a guest co-anchor of the CBS Morning News. She joined CBS on a permanent basis as a correspondent in September 2017 and simultaneously joined CNN as a contributor.


title: Bianna Golodryga

text: In December 2016, Golodryga confronted then-Congressman Dana Rohrabacher, a Republican from California, over his defense of Russian President Vladimir Putin. At the time, Rohrabacher was considered a candidate to be appointed Secretary of State by then president-elect Donald Trump and was criticizing China for its record on human rights. Golodryga then asked about Putin, who has been consistently praised by Trump. Rohrabacher answered, "Oh, baloney. Where do you come from? How can you say that?" to which Golodryga replied, "I come from the former Soviet Union—that's where I came from. I came here as a political refugee. That's where I came from." Rohrabacher appeared flustered and accused Golodryga of being biased before he compared Putin to Mikhail Gorbachev.


title: Bianna Golodryga

text: Golodryga is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. She has contributed to the HuffPost, most recently credited as a News and Finance Anchor at Yahoo!.


title: Bianna Golodryga

text: In 2015, Golodryga, whose husband was a former Bill Clinton staff member, was selected by Hillary Clinton to conduct Clinton's first interview as a presidential candidate. However, Clinton expressed her choice as "Bianna", which was misinterpreted by Clinton's staff as "Brianna" and an interview was scheduled with CNN's Brianna Keilar, who conducted a tough interview. Golodryga responded, "It happens all the time that my name gets butchered. I never thought it would impede me from participating in what would be one of the biggest stories of my life."


title: Bianna Golodryga

text: On October 3, 2018, it was announced on "CBS This Morning" that she would be joining the team as a co-host. On April 3, 2019, CBS News announced that she had chosen to leave the network. Later that year CNN announced that Golodryga had accepted a full-time role at the network as a senior global affairs analyst.


title: Bianna Golodryga

text: In May 2021, during the 2021 Israel–Palestine crisis, Golodryga interviewed Shah Mahmood Qureshi, the Pakistani Minister of Foreign Affairs. During the interview, Qureshi said: "Israel is losing out. They are losing the media war, despite their connections." Golodryga asked Qureshi: "What are their connections?" to which Qureshi replied: "Deep pockets," adding, "they are very influential people. They control media". Golodryga alleged several times during the interview that she considered this remark anti-semitic. After her exchange with Qureshi became a matter of international discussion, she elaborated further: "There should be zero point zero doubt that accusing Israel of 'controlling the media' and having 'deep pockets' is antisemitic."


title: Bianna Golodryga

text: Golodgryga is the recipient of an Emmy Award for Outstanding Morning Program, the Keystone Policy Center Leadership Award and the University of Texas at Austin Pro Bene Meritis Award among others.


title: Bianna Golodryga

text: In September 2010, Golodryga married Peter R. Orszag, the former Director of the Office of Management and Budget for the Obama Administration and the CEO of Financial Advisory at Lazard, a financial services firm. They have a son and daughter.


title: Bianna Golodryga

text: She has completed the 2019 New York City Marathon in 4:01:37 and has run several half marathons in the New York City area.


title: Secretariat Building, New Delhi

text: The Secretariat Building or Central Secretariat is where the Cabinet Secretariat is housed, which administers the Government of India. Built in the 1910s, it is home to some of the most important ministries of the Cabinet of India. Situated at Raisina Hill, New Delhi, the Secretariat buildings are two blocks of symmetrical buildings (North Block and South Block) on opposite sides of the great axis of Rajpath, and flanking the Rashtrapati Bhavan (President's House).


title: Secretariat Building, New Delhi

text: The planning of New Delhi began in earnest after Delhi was made capital of the British Indian Empire in 1911. Lutyens was assigned responsibility for town planning and the construction of Viceroy's House (now Rashtrapati Bhavan); Herbert Baker, who had practised in South Africa for two decades, 1892–1912, joined in as the second in command. Baker took on the design of the next most important building, the Secretariat, which was the only building other than Viceroy's House to stand on Raisina Hill. As the work progressed relations between Lutyens and Baker deteriorated; the hill placed by Baker in front of Viceroy's House largely obscured Viceroy's House from view on the Rajpath from India Gate, in breach of Lutyens' intentions; instead, only the top of the dome of Viceroy's House is visible from far away. To avoid this, Lutyens wanted the Secretariat to be of lower height than Viceroy's House, but Baker wanted it of the same height, and in the end it was Baker's intentions that were fulfilled.


title: Secretariat Building, New Delhi

text: After the capital of India moved to Delhi, a temporary secretariat building was constructed in a few months in 1912 in North Delhi. Most of the government offices of the new capital moved here from the 'Old Secretariat' in Old Delhi, a decade before the new capital was inaugurated in 1931. Many employees were brought into the new capital from distant parts of British India, including the Bengal Presidency and Madras Presidency. Subsequently, housing for them was developed around Gole Market area.


title: Secretariat Building, New Delhi

text: The Old Secretariat Building now houses the Delhi Legislative Assembly. The nearby Parliament House was built much later, and hence was not constructed around the axis of Rajpath. Construction of Parliament House was begun in 1921, and the building was inaugurated in 1927.


title: Secretariat Building, New Delhi

text: The Secretariat Building was designed by the prominent British architect Herbert Baker in Indo-Saracenic Revival architecture. Both the identical buildings have four levels, each with about 1,000 rooms, in the inner courtyards to make space for future expansions. In continuation with the Viceroy's House, these buildings also used cream and red Dholpur sandstone from Rajasthan, with the red sandstone forming the base. Together the buildings were designed to form two squares. They have broad corridors between different wings and wide stairways to the four floors and each building is topped by a giant dome, while each wings end with colonnaded balcony.


title: Secretariat Building, New Delhi

text: Much of the building is in classical architectural style, yet it incorporated from Mughal and Rajasthani architecture style and motifs in its architecture. These are visible in the use of "Jali", perforated screens, to protect from scorching sun and monsoon rains of India. Another feature of the building is a dome-like structure known as the "Chatri", a design unique to India, used in ancient times to give relief to travellers by providing shade from the hot Indian sun.


title: Secretariat Building, New Delhi

text: The style of architecture used in Secretariat Building is unique to Raisina Hill. In front of the main gates on buildings are the four "dominion columns", given by Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. At the time of their unveiling in 1930, India was also supposed to become a British dominion soon. However, India became independent within the next 17 years and the Secretariat became the seat of power of a sovereign India. In the years to follow the building ran out of accommodation.


title: Secretariat Building, New Delhi

text: Prior to coming to India, Baker had an established practice in South Africa over twenty years and designed various prominent buildings there, especially the Union Buildings, in Pretoria, built from 1910 to 1913, though designed in 1908. It is the official seat of the South African government, house the offices of the President of South Africa, and like the Secretariat Building, it also sits atop a hill, known as the Meintjieskop.


title: Secretariat Building, New Delhi

text: But the similarities between the two building show a clear influence of the former, especially in the basic structure of two wings and colonnaded balconies at the end with almost identical symmetrical bell towers. Both buildings have a similar symmetrical design in case of the Union Building the two wings are joined by a semi-circular colonnade, while with Secretariat building, the North and South Blocks are separated and face each other. The colour scheme is reversed while the roof of Union Building is covered with red tiles, in secretariat red sandstone is used in the ground floor walls only, the rest is the same pale sandstone.


title: Secretariat Building, New Delhi

text: The Secretariat Building consists of two buildings: the North Block and the South Block. Both the buildings flank the Rashtrapati Bhavan.


title: Secretariat Building, New Delhi

text: The terms 'North Block' and 'South Block' are often used to refer to the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of External Affairs respectively.


title: Kyle Field

text: Kyle Field is the American football stadium located on the campus of Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas, United States. It has been the home to the Texas A&M Aggies football team in rudimentary form since 1904, and as a permanent concrete stadium since 1927.


title: Kyle Field

text: The seating capacity of 102,733 in 2021 makes it the largest in the Southeastern Conference and the fourth-largest stadium in the NCAA, the fourth-largest stadium in the United States, and the sixth-largest non-racing stadium in the world and the largest in Texas.


title: Kyle Field

text: Kyle Field's largest game attendance was 110,633 people when Texas A&M lost to the Ole Miss Rebels by the score of 35–20 on October 11, 2014. This was the largest football game attendance in the state of Texas and SEC history at the time. The record for a game involving an SEC team was surpassed by the Battle At Bristol.


title: Kyle Field

text: In the fall of 1904, Edwin Jackson Kyle, an 1899 graduate of Texas A&M and professor of horticulture, was named president of the General Athletics Association. Kyle wanted to secure and develop an athletic field to promote the school's athletics. Texas A&M was unwilling to provide funds, so Kyle fenced off a section of the southwest corner of campus that had been assigned to him for agricultural use. Using $650 of his own money, he purchased a covered grandstand from the Bryan fairgrounds and built wooden bleachers to raise the seating capacity to 500 people.


title: Kyle Field

text: On November 11, 1904, the Texas A&M Board of Directors set this area as a permanent athletic field, which served as the home for the football and baseball teams. After the stands were built, students supported naming the field after its founder and builder. Accordingly, in 1906, the Corps of Cadets unofficially named the field "Kyle Field" in Kyle's honor.


title: Kyle Field

text: Though some sources suggest the November 21, 1921 game between the Texas A&M Aggies and their archrival the University of Texas at Kyle Field became the first college football game to offer a live, play-by-play broadcast on radio, this claim is incorrect. The first live, play-by-play broadcast on radio of a college football game occurred October 8, 1921 at Forbes Field when KDKA-AM broadcast a Pittsburgh vs. West Virginia game. The Texas Historical Commission installed a historical marker at Kyle Field in 2005 indicating that, while it was not the first broadcast in the US, it is believed to be the first in Texas.


title: Kyle Field

text: The Aggies enjoyed an undefeated season in 1919, accumulating a combined score of 275–0. Aggie supporters began to clamor for a permanent stadium, but only $2,400 was raised by 1920. In 1927, the school chose to build a new concrete stadium, at a cost of $345,001.67 or $365,000, depending on the source.


title: Kyle Field

text: The new stadium—roughly corresponding to the lower half of the current structure's east and west grandstands—opened later that year. By 1929, the stadium had become a 32,890-seat horseshoe, with temporary seating for an additional 5,000. The space inside the horseshoe was sufficient to allow a track surrounding the field. Capacity was raised to 41,500 in 1953 when a partial second deck and a pressbox were added at a cost of $346,000.


title: Kyle Field

text: In 1956, the Texas A&M Board of Regents officially named the stadium "Kyle Field," though it had been unofficially called by that name for over half a century. Although some believe that the field was instead named after Dr. J. Allen Kyle, a member of the Board of Directors from 1911 to 1915, the Board of Directors decreed that Kyle Field was in fact named for E.J. Kyle (Class of 1899).


title: Kyle Field

text: More of second deck and other improvements were added in 1967 to raise the capacity to 48,000 at a cost of $1.84 million. In 1974, two large flagpoles were added at the south end of the stadium in memory of Lt. William B. Blocker, (Texas A&M Class of 1945).


title: Kyle Field

text: Expansion continued in 1980, when a third deck was added to Kyle Field, bringing the capacity to 70,000. Construction took place during the football season, and students were allowed into the area as each row of seating was added. In 1981, letters spelling out "KYLE FIELD" were installed.


title: Kyle Field

text: The Bernard C. Richardson Zone was added in 1999 at a cost of $32.9 million raising the capacity to 82,600. For high-demand games, temporary bleachers were installed in the south end zone and folding chairs were placed on the sidelines. In the fall of 2003, the Bright Football Complex was completed on the south end of the stadium. The facility (named for its principal donor, former Dallas Cowboys owner Bum Bright) includes a players' lounge overlooking Kyle Field, dressing rooms, one of the largest training and rehabilitation facilities in the country, and a state-of-the-art academic center.


title: Kyle Field

text: The field had a grass playing surface until 1970, when Astroturf was installed. Natural turf was reinstalled on the field for the 1996 season. Since that time, the turf has consistently received praise from players and coaches. For their efforts, the groundskeepers were honored in 2004 as the winners of the STMA College Football Field of the Year.


title: Kyle Field

text: On May 1, 2013, the Texas A&M Board of Regents approved a $485 million rebuild of Kyle Field. The renovation would temporarily raise the official seating capacity to 106,511 people for the 2014 season, making it the largest football stadium in Texas and the SEC (surpassing Neyland Stadium by 57 seats) and the third largest football stadium in the country.


title: Kyle Field

text: The renovation was done in two distinct phases geared around the football season, and began immediately after the conclusion of the final 2013 season game in November with the implosion of the student section side. The stadium renovation was complete by the beginning of the 2015 season bringing the official capacity to 102,733. Per local media, KBTX, major milestones for the Kyle Field project were as follows, with construction sequenced and phased to allow the playing of regular home football games in the stadium for the 2013, 2014, and 2015 seasons. The renovation was completed ahead of schedule and under budget.


title: Kyle Field

text: On November 26, 1999, just one week after the collapse of the Aggie Bonfire, the Aggies beat the 5th-ranked Texas Longhorns 20–16 in an emotional comeback game before a then-record crowd of 86,128. Another notable event occurred on September 22, 2001, 11 days after the September 11 attacks and the first game for the Aggies after the attacks, where the students organized a "Red, White and Blue-Out". Students assigned each deck a different color (red on third deck, white on second deck, and blue on first deck) to wear for the game against Oklahoma State. Despite the short notice, attendees followed the instructions, resulting in a red, white, and blue stadium. More than $150,000 was raised in shirt sales, which was donated to FDNY charities.


title: Kyle Field

text: Texas A&M's last Big 12 Conference football game and the last scheduled game against the University of Texas Longhorns occurred on November 24, 2011.


title: Kyle Field

text: Texas A&M's first Southeastern Conference (SEC) football game occurred on September 8, 2012 against the University of Florida Gators.


title: Kyle Field

text: Kyle Field has at times been regarded as one of the most intimidating college football stadiums in the nation by various media outlets and sportswriters. Contributing to its reputation in the 1990s, Texas A&M boasted one of the nation's best home records at 55–4–1, including 31 straight wins at Kyle Field from 1990 to 1995 and 22 straight from 1996 to 2000. From 2000 through 2015, however, the record of Texas A&M at Kyle Field was 70–37 (a winning percentage of 65.4%, down from 93.2% in the 1990s). Through November 14, 2015, the overall Kyle Field record at the site of the playing field is 402–161–19 (70.7%) while the overall record since the stadium's construction in 1927 is 301–147–12 (66.7%).


title: Kyle Field

text: The Bernard C. Richardson Zone, named for a 1941 petroleum engineering graduate and a Texas A&M Distinguished Alumnus, is located at the north end of Kyle Field, replacing the former single-deck horseshoe which connected the east and west wings of the stadium. This $32.9 million expansion added over 20,000 seats, and sits closer to the field than the previous seating. The Zone unofficially opened for the memorial vigil following the 1999 Texas A&M Bonfire Collapse, and then at full capacity the next day for the grudge match against the University of Texas, setting a then-state-record of 86,128 fans attending. For the next several years the Aggies saw consecutive record-breaking attendance figures for the season.


title: Kyle Field

text: The ground level of The Zone contains the Texas A&M Sports Museum, the nation's only all-sports museum funded primarily by former athletes (The Texas A&M Letterman's Association). The museum contains rotating exhibits focusing on various varsity sports at Texas A&M, while permanent exhibits trace the history of the school sports and some of the more treasured traditions.


title: Kyle Field

text: The Zone contains four levels of seating areas, with the first and fourth deck containing bench seating. One deck is comprised completely of luxury boxes, while the last deck is armchair seating. Known as The Zone Club, the 1,900 open-air armchair seats are considered the premier seating area of Kyle Field. The Zone Club sits underneath the fourth deck, meaning the inhabitants are protected from rain, wind, and the blazing Texas sun. The area boasts a full-service bar and concession areas, with a pre-game buffet offered for those with seats in the area. The Zone Club also has sixteen televisions stationed in various areas so that attendees can also keep an eye on other games being played around the country.


title: Kyle Field

text: The old Kyle Field press box was located at the top of the west deck of the stadium, sitting over above the field. The pressbox had two tiers, accommodating over 250 members of the press, with print journalists stationed in the upper tier and radio and television journalists sitting in the lower tier.


title: Kyle Field

text: During the singing of the Aggie War Hymn, in which Aggie fans link arms and sway in unison throughout the stadium, the entire west upper deck (including the press box) actually swayed, even though the press box was supported by three concrete pillars. This often startled journalists who haven't covered an Aggie home game before, even though a sign in the press box warned, "Please do not be alarmed, the press box will move during the Aggie War Hymn." In 2003, the press box was declared a high-rise building, and Texas A&M was forced to renovate it to meet federal, state, and local regulations regarding fire safety and the Americans with Disabilities Act. Renovations before the 2014 season lessened the swaying effect somewhat.


title: Kyle Field

text: During the 2006 offseason, the older Jumbotron was removed and replaced by a Mitsubishi Diamond Vision enhanced resolution LED videoboard in the south end zone, at the time the second largest in college athletics and one of the ten largest in the world. The Texas A&M Athletic Department has dubbed the new screen "12th Man TV", although some fans refer to it as the "Gigatron". The structure contains 590,000 pixels on 154 video panels with a screen size of . The athletic department also updated the media equipment to allow production and broadcast of enhanced definition video to the screen. This addition to Kyle Field was accompanied by LED ribbon boards installed along the facade of the second deck encircling the stadium. At , it is the second-longest ribbon board in collegiate sports and second worldwide only to Hard Rock Stadium in Miami. In conjunction with this project, additional upgrades included video board upgrades to Reed Arena and Olsen Field.


title: Kyle Field

text: Unveiled in September 2014, an LED videoboard that is 47 by 163 feet () was installed at the south end zone above the new seating, remained as the largest in college athletics until Auburn unveiled a 57-by-190-foot, LED videoboard at Jordan–Hare Stadium which was completed in August 2015.


title: Kyle Field

text: When the first Aggie mascot, Reveille, died, she was buried at the north end of Kyle Field so that the score of the Aggie football games was always visible from the site. Subsequent Reveilles were buried alongside her. Construction of the Bernard C. Richardson Zone disrupted the mascot graves, so the graves were temporarily moved across the street from the stadium. Following the completion of the addition, an improved graveyard was dedicated directly outside the Zone and a small electronic scoreboard was mounted on the Zone so that the score would remain visible. Traditionally, when a current or former Reveille died, a military funeral was held at Kyle Field. Over 10,000 people attended the service for Reveille IV. In 2013, Reveille VII, who was retired in May 2008, was given a toned-down memorial service at Reed Arena, rather than a funeral service. According to the Commandant of the Corps, as she is a dog, not a person, he did not believe a 21-gun salute or the playing of "Taps" was appropriate, although he had no involvement in the planning of the memorial service. Some fans were displeased with the changes. It was also announced that the bodies of the previous Reveilles will be exhumed as part of the Kyle Field renovations and relocated across the street, similar to what was done in the previous renovations.


title: Kyle Field

text: During summers, young athletes are invited to Kyle Field for football training camps. In the fall, the stadium plays host to various Texas high school football playoff games. The stadium is the home to the Texas A&M Corps of Cadets annual Parents' Weekend Review and Final Review. From 1990 to 2013 it was the venue for the "Cross-Town Showdown" high school football game between the Bryan Vikings and the A&M Consolidated Tigers, arguably the most popular game of the Vikings/Tigers football season. Traditionally the last game of each team's football schedule, beginning in the 2006 season, Texas A&M University requested that the game be held earlier in the year so as not to interfere with Aggie games. In 2013 due to the renovations including a new turf field; Texas A&M requested the Bryan Vikings vs. A&M Consolidated game be held at their home fields beginning 2014 until the renovations are completed. Kyle Field also hosts the Texas A&M University football team for the Maroon & White practice scrimmage during Parent's Weekend each spring.


title: Epiphyseal plate

text: The epiphyseal plate (or epiphysial plate, physis, or growth plate) is a hyaline cartilage plate in the metaphysis at each end of a long bone. It is the part of a long bone where new bone growth takes place; that is, the whole bone is alive, with maintenance remodeling throughout its existing bone tissue, but the growth plate is the place where the long bone grows longer (adds length).


title: Epiphyseal plate

text: The plate is only found in children and adolescents; in adults, who have stopped growing, the plate is replaced by an epiphyseal line. This replacement is known as epiphyseal closure or growth plate fusion. Complete fusion can occur as early as 12 for girls (with the most common being 14-15 years for girls) and as early as 14 for boys (with the most common being 15–17 years for boys).


title: Epiphyseal plate

text: Endochondral ossification is responsible for the initial bone development from cartilage in utero and infants and the longitudinal growth of long bones in the epiphyseal plate. The plate's chondrocytes are under constant division by mitosis. These daughter cells stack facing the epiphysis while the older cells are pushed towards the diaphysis. As the older chondrocytes degenerate, osteoblasts ossify the remains to form new bone. In puberty increasing levels of estrogen, in both females and males, leads to increased apoptosis of chondrocytes in the epiphyseal plate. Depletion of chondrocytes due to apoptosis leads to less ossification and growth slows down and later stops when the entire cartilage have become replaced by bone, leaving only a thin epiphyseal scar which later disappears.


title: Epiphyseal plate

text: Defects in the development and continued division of epiphyseal plates can lead to growth disorders collectively known as osteochondrodysplasia. The most common defect is achondroplasia, where there is a defect in cartilage formation. Achondroplasia is the most common cause of dwarfism or short stature and it also manifests in generalized deformities of bones and joints. However, various other types of osteochondrodysplasias can cause short stature and generalized deformities of bones and joints due to abnormal function of growth plate cartilage cells. Hereditary multiple exostoses is a genetic condition that is caused by growth irregularities of the epiphyseal plates of the long bones of the upper and lower limbs. It usually results in limb deformities and a certain degree of functional limitations.


title: Epiphyseal plate

text: Salter–Harris fractures are fractures involving epiphyseal plates and hence tend to interfere with growth, height or physiologic functions.


title: Epiphyseal plate

text: Osgood-Schlatter disease results from stress on the epiphyseal plate in the tibia, leading to excess bone growth and a painful lump at the knee.


title: Epiphyseal plate

text: There are important clinical implications of the growth plate physiology. For example guided growth surgery, also known as temporary hemiepiphysiodesis is used to achieve correction or straightening of the bone deformities in a variety of pediatric orthopedic disorders such as Blount's disease, rickets, arthrogryposis multiplex congenita and osteochondrodysplasias among others. This applies to bone and joint deformities in the coronal – medial/lateral – plane or genu varum/genu valgum plane and in the sagittal – anterior/posterior – plane or knee flexion deformity/genu recurvatum plane.


title: Epiphyseal plate

text: John Hunter studied growing chickens. He observed bones grew at the ends and thus demonstrated the existence of the epiphyseal plates. Hunter is considered the "father of the growth plate."


title: Marshal of the Russian Federation

text: Marshal of the Russian Federation () is the highest military rank of Russia, created in 1993 following the dissolution of the Soviet Union. It ranks immediately above Army general and Admiral of the fleet (also called Fleet Admiral in some English-language texts), and is considered the successor to the Soviet-era rank of Marshal of the Soviet Union.


title: Marshal of the Russian Federation

text: A Marshal of the Russian Federation outranks Generals of the Army (four stars), Colonel-Generals (three stars), Lieutenant-Generals (two stars) and Major-Generals (one star). It is roughly equivalent to American General of the Army and the British Field Marshal.


title: Marshal of the Russian Federation

text: The only officer so far to have held the rank was Igor Sergeyev, the former Minister of Defence, who had been elevated from the General of the Army of the Strategic Rocket Forces. Sergeyev was a Marshal of the Russian Federation from 1997 until his death in 2006.


title: Marshal of the Russian Federation

text: The insignia for Marshal of the Russian Federation is similar to the one for the Marshal of the Soviet Union, with the Soviet emblem replaced by the Russian coat of arms. An officer who is given this rank would also wear the Marshal's star.


title: National symbols of the United States

text: National symbols of the United States are the symbols used to represent the United States of America.


title: K.V. Oostende

text: Koninklijke Voetbalclub Oostende, also called KV Oostende () or KVO, is a Belgian football club from the city of Ostend, West Flanders in Belgium. The team was founded in 1904 as "VG Oostende" and has the matricule No. 31.


title: K.V. Oostende

text: In 1911, another club was created, AS Oostende, which would soon become the best club of the city, playing regularly in the second division in the 1930s. In the mid 1970s, AS reached the first division while VG was playing at the second level.


title: K.V. Oostende

text: The two clubs merged in 1981 to become KV Oostende. The new club played in the third division for eleven years, before finally being promoted. In its first season on the second level, Oostende were immediately promoted again, to the first division, where it would achieve its best result in the club history: a seventh place, in 1993–94.


title: K.V. Oostende

text: From 1995 to 2013, Oostende played in the second division, except in 1998–99 and 2004–05, when it was at the higher level again, and in 2001–02 and 2002–03, when it played in the third division.


title: K.V. Oostende

text: In 1982, one year after the merger, VG Oostende had been re-founded at the lowest level of the Belgian football competition. The club first used the Armenonville stadium, which was the original ground of VG. In 2001, the stadium was declared unsafe, so the club had to groundshare with KV Oostende in the Albertparkstadion, until 2010. In 2013, the new VG Oostende also disappeared, after a financial breakdown.


title: K.V. Oostende

text: In August 2013, shortly after a new promotion to the highest level, it was announced that chairman and majority shareholder Yves Lejaeghere would be succeeded by a new chairman, businessman Marc Coucke.


title: K.V. Oostende

text: In the spring of 2016, the main tribune of the Albertparkstadion was rebuilt and the stadium was renamed the Versluys Arena with the capacity increased to 8,432.


title: K.V. Oostende

text: Thanks to its success in the previous campaign, Oostende played in the third qualifying round of the Europa League in the 2017/18 season. The team drew Olympique de Marseille, a club with an important place in the history of French and European football. Oostende was unable to go any further in the competition after losing 4-2 in Marseille on 17 July 2017 and only securing a goalless draw at home on 3 August 2017. While Oostende were clear underdogs, the KVO supporters filled the visitor section of the Stade Vélodrome in Marseille, proud of the team's qualification after having only been promoted to Belgium's first division a few years ago. Olympique de Marseille would go on to reach the finals in the Europa league that season, falling short to Atlético Madrid.


title: K.V. Oostende

text: After a disappointing beginning to the 2017/18 season, manager Yves Vanderhaeghe was set free of his obligations, with the assistant manager, Adnan Čustović, being asked to take over.


title: K.V. Oostende

text: In December 2017 Marc Coucke announced that he would be leaving, after recently purchasing R.S.C. Anderlecht. It was then announced on 8 February 2018 that Peter Callant would replace Coucke as chairman. Coucke confirmed his continued interest in the club and that he remained a fan and would stay on as a minority shareholder.


title: K.V. Oostende

text: In May 2020 an investment group acquired KV Oostende Football Club and the new investors include Pacific Media Group, Chien Lee, Partners Path Capital and Krishen Sud.


title: Electromagnetic compatibility

text: Electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) is the ability of electrical equipment and systems to function acceptably in their electromagnetic environment, by limiting the unintentional generation, propagation and reception of electromagnetic energy which may cause unwanted effects such as electromagnetic interference (EMI) or even physical damage in operational equipment. The goal of EMC is the correct operation of different equipment in a common electromagnetic environment. It is also the name given to the associated branch of electrical engineering.


title: Electromagnetic compatibility

text: EMC pursues three main classes of issue. Emission is the generation of electromagnetic energy, whether deliberate or accidental, by some source and its release into the environment. EMC studies the unwanted emissions and the countermeasures which may be taken in order to reduce unwanted emissions. The second class, susceptibility, is the tendency of electrical equipment, referred to as the victim, to malfunction or break down in the presence of unwanted emissions, which are known as Radio frequency interference (RFI). Immunity is the opposite of susceptibility, being the ability of equipment to function correctly in the presence of RFI, with the discipline of "hardening" equipment being known equally as susceptibility or immunity. A third class studied is coupling, which is the mechanism by which emitted interference reaches the victim.


title: Electromagnetic compatibility

text: Interference mitigation and hence electromagnetic compatibility may be achieved by addressing any or all of these issues, i.e., quieting the sources of interference, inhibiting coupling paths and/or hardening the potential victims. In practice, many of the engineering techniques used, such as grounding and shielding, apply to all three issues.


title: Electromagnetic compatibility

text: "Electromagnetic interference" (EMI) is defined as the ""degradation in the performance of equipment or transmission channel or a system caused by an electromagnetic disturbance"" ( 161-01-06) while "electromagnetic disturbance" is defined as ""an electromagnetic phenomenon that can degrade the performance of a device, equipment or system, or adversely affect living or inert matter" (IEV 161-01-05). The terms "electromagnetic disturbance" and "electromagnetic interference" designate respectively the cause and the effect,


title: Electromagnetic compatibility

text: Electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) is an equipment "characteristic" or "property" and is defined as " "the ability of equipment or a system to function satisfactorily in its electromagnetic environment without introducing intolerable electromagnetic disturbances to anything in that environment" " (IEV 161-01-07).


title: Electromagnetic compatibility

text: EMC ensures the correct operation, in the same electromagnetic environment, of different equipment items which use or respond to electromagnetic phenomena, and the avoidance of any interference. Another way of saying this is that EMC is the control of EMI so that unwanted effects are prevented.


title: Electromagnetic compatibility

text: Besides understanding the phenomena in themselves, EMC also addresses the countermeasures, such as control regimes, design and measurement, which should be taken in order to prevent emissions from causing any adverse effect.


title: Electromagnetic compatibility

text: Electromagnetic interference divides into several categories according to the source and signal characteristics.


title: Electromagnetic compatibility

text: The origin of interference, often called "noise" in this context, can be man-made (artificial) or natural.


title: Electromagnetic compatibility

text: Continuous, or continuous wave (CW), interference arises where the source continuously emits at a given range of frequencies. This type is naturally divided into sub-categories according to frequency range, and as a whole is sometimes referred to as "DC to daylight".


title: Electromagnetic compatibility

text: An electromagnetic pulse (EMP), sometimes called a transient disturbance, arises where the source emits a short-duration pulse of energy. The energy is usually broadband by nature, although it often excites a relatively narrow-band "damped sine wave" response in the victim.


title: Electromagnetic compatibility

text: Some of the technical terms which are employed can be used with differing meanings. Some phenomena may be referred to by various different terms. These terms are used here in a widely accepted way, which is consistent with other articles in the encyclopedia.


title: Electromagnetic compatibility

text: The basic arrangement of noise emitter or source, coupling path and victim, receptor or sink is shown in the figure below. Source and victim are usually electronic hardware devices, though the source may be a natural phenomenon such as a lightning strike, electrostatic discharge (ESD) or, in one famous case, the Big Bang at the origin of the Universe.


title: Electromagnetic compatibility

text: There are four basic coupling mechanisms: conductive, capacitive, magnetic or inductive, and radiative. Any coupling path can be broken down into one or more of these coupling mechanisms working together. For example the lower path in the diagram involves inductive, conductive and capacitive modes.


title: Electromagnetic compatibility

text: Conductive coupling occurs when the coupling path between the source and victim is formed by direct electrical contact with a conducting body, for example a transmission line, wire, cable, PCB trace or metal enclosure.


title: Electromagnetic compatibility

text: Inductive coupling occurs where the source and victim are separated by a short distance (typically less than a wavelength). Strictly, "Inductive coupling" can be of two kinds, electrical induction and magnetic induction. It is common to refer to electrical induction as "capacitive coupling", and to magnetic induction as "inductive coupling".


title: Electromagnetic compatibility

text: Capacitive coupling occurs when a varying electrical field exists between two adjacent conductors typically less than a wavelength apart, inducing a change in voltage on the receiving conductor.


title: Electromagnetic compatibility

text: Inductive coupling or magnetic coupling occurs when a varying magnetic field exists between two parallel conductors typically less than a wavelength apart, inducing a change in voltage along the receiving conductor.


title: Electromagnetic compatibility

text: Radiative coupling or electromagnetic coupling occurs when source and victim are separated by a large distance, typically more than a wavelength. Source and victim act as radio antennas: the source emits or radiates an electromagnetic wave which propagates across the space in between and is picked up or received by the victim.


title: Electromagnetic compatibility

text: The damaging effects of electromagnetic interference pose unacceptable risks in many areas of technology, and it is necessary to control such interference and reduce the risks to acceptable levels.


title: Electromagnetic compatibility

text: The control of electromagnetic interference (EMI) and assurance of EMC comprises a series of related disciplines:


title: Electromagnetic compatibility

text: The risk posed by the threat is usually statistical in nature, so much of the work in threat characterisation and standards setting is based on reducing the probability of disruptive EMI to an acceptable level, rather than its assured elimination.


title: Electromagnetic compatibility

text: For a complex or novel piece of equipment, this may require the production of a dedicated "EMC control plan" summarizing the application of the above and specifying additional documents required.


title: Electromagnetic compatibility

text: Several organizations, both national and international, work to promote international co-operation on standardization (harmonization), including publishing various EMC standards. Where possible, a standard developed by one organization may be adopted with little or no change by others. This helps for example to harmonize national standards across Europe.


title: Electromagnetic compatibility

text: Compliance with national or international standards is usually laid down by laws passed by individual nations. Different nations can require compliance with different standards.


title: Electromagnetic compatibility

text: In European law, EU directive 2014/30/EU (previously 2004/108/EC) on EMC defines the rules for the placing on the market/putting into service of electric/electronic equipment within the European Union. The Directive applies to a vast range of equipment including electrical and electronic appliances, systems and installations. Manufacturers of electric and electronic devices are advised to run EMC tests in order to comply with compulsory CE-labeling. More are given in the list of EMC directives. Compliance with the applicable harmonised standards whose reference is listed in the OJEU under the EMC Directive gives presumption of conformity with the corresponding essential requirements of the EMC Directive.


title: Electromagnetic compatibility

text: In 2019, the USA adopted a program for the protection of critical infrastructure against an electromagnetic pulse, whether caused by a geomagnetic storm or a high-altitude nuclear weapon.


title: Electromagnetic compatibility

text: Electromagnetic noise is produced in the source due to rapid current and voltage changes, and spread via the coupling mechanisms described earlier.


title: Electromagnetic compatibility

text: Breaking a coupling path is equally effective at either the start or the end of the path, therefore many aspects of good EMC design practice apply equally to potential sources and to potential victims.


title: Electromagnetic compatibility

text: A design which easily couples energy to the outside world will equally easily couple energy in and will be susceptible. A single improvement will often reduce both emissions and susceptibility.


title: Electromagnetic compatibility

text: Grounding and shielding aim to reduce emissions or divert EMI away from the victim by providing an alternative, low-impedance path. Techniques include:


title: Electromagnetic compatibility

text: Testing is required to confirm that a particular device meets the required standards. It divides broadly into emissions testing and susceptibility testing.


title: Electromagnetic compatibility

text: Open-area test sites, or OATS, are the reference sites in most standards. They are especially useful for emissions testing of large equipment systems.


title: Electromagnetic compatibility

text: However RF testing of a physical prototype is most often carried out indoors, in a specialised EMC test chamber. Types of chamber include anechoic, reverberation and the gigahertz transverse electromagnetic cell (GTEM cell).


title: Electromagnetic compatibility

text: Like all compliance testing, it is important that the test equipment, including the test chamber or site and any software used, be properly calibrated and maintained.


title: Electromagnetic compatibility

text: Typically, a given run of tests for a particular piece of equipment will require an "EMC test plan" and follow-up "test report". The full test program may require the production of several such documents.


title: Electromagnetic compatibility

text: Emissions are typically measured for radiated field strength and where appropriate for conducted emissions along cables and wiring. Inductive (magnetic) and capacitive (electric) field strengths are near-field effects, and are only important if the device under test (DUT) is designed for location close to other electrical equipment.


title: Electromagnetic compatibility

text: For conducted emissions, typical transducers include the LISN (line impedance stabilisation network) or AMN (artificial mains network) and the RF current clamp.


title: Electromagnetic compatibility

text: For radiated emission measurement, antennas are used as transducers. Typical antennas specified include dipole, biconical, log-periodic, double ridged guide and conical log-spiral designs. Radiated emissions must be measured in all directions around the DUT.


title: Electromagnetic compatibility

text: Specialized EMI test receivers or EMI analysers are used for EMC compliance testing. These incorporate bandwidths and detectors as specified by international EMC standards. An EMI receiver may be based on a spectrum analyser to measure the emission levels of the DUT across a wide band of frequencies (frequency domain), or on a tunable narrower-band device which is swept through the desired frequency range. EMI receivers along with specified transducers can often be used for both conducted and radiated emissions. Pre-selector filters may also be used to reduce the effect of strong out-of-band signals on the front-end of the receiver.


title: Electromagnetic compatibility

text: Some pulse emissions are more usefully characterized using an oscilloscope to capture the pulse waveform in the time domain.


title: Electromagnetic compatibility

text: Radiated field susceptibility testing typically involves a high-powered source of RF or EM energy and a radiating antenna to direct the energy at the potential victim or device under test (DUT).


title: Electromagnetic compatibility

text: Conducted voltage and current susceptibility testing typically involves a high-powered signal generator, and a current clamp or other type of transformer to inject the test signal.


title: Electromagnetic compatibility

text: Transient or EMP signals are used to test the immunity of the DUT against powerline disturbances including surges, lightning strikes and switching noise. In motor vehicles, similar tests are performed on battery and signal lines. The transient pulse may be generated digitally and passed through a broadband pulse amplifier, or applied directly to the transducer from a specialised pulse generator.


title: Electromagnetic compatibility

text: Electrostatic discharge testing is typically performed with a piezo spark generator called an "ESD pistol". Higher energy pulses, such as lightning or nuclear EMP simulations, can require a large current clamp or a large antenna which completely surrounds the DUT. Some antennas are so large that they are located outdoors, and care must be taken not to cause an EMP hazard to the surrounding environment.


title: Electromagnetic compatibility

text: The earliest EMC issue was lightning strike (lightning electromagnetic pulse, or LEMP) on ships and buildings. Lightning rods or lightning conductors began to appear in the mid-18th century. With the advent of widespread electricity generation and power supply lines from the late 19th century on, problems also arose with equipment short-circuit failure affecting the power supply, and with local fire and shock hazard when the power line was struck by lightning. Power stations were provided with output circuit breakers. Buildings and appliances would soon be provided with input fuses, and later in the 20th century miniature circuit breakers (MCB) would come into use.


title: Electromagnetic compatibility

text: It may be said that radio interference and its correction arose with the first spark-gap experiment of Marconi in the late 1800s. As radio communications developed in the first half of the 20th century, interference between broadcast radio signals began to occur and an international regulatory framework was set up to ensure interference-free communications.


title: Electromagnetic compatibility

text: Switching devices became commonplace through the middle of the 20th century, typically in petrol powered cars and motorcycles but also in domestic appliances such as thermostats and refrigerators. This caused transient interference with domestic radio and (after World War II) TV reception, and in due course laws were passed requiring the suppression of such interference sources.


title: Electromagnetic compatibility

text: ESD problems first arose with accidental electric spark discharges in hazardous environments such as coal mines and when refuelling aircraft or motor cars. Safe working practices had to be developed.


title: Electromagnetic compatibility

text: After World War II the military became increasingly concerned with the effects of nuclear electromagnetic pulse (NEMP), lightning strike, and even high-powered radar beams, on vehicle and mobile equipment of all kinds, and especially aircraft electrical systems.


title: Electromagnetic compatibility

text: When high RF emission levels from other sources became a potential problem (such as with the advent of microwave ovens), certain frequency bands were designated for Industrial, Scientific and Medical (ISM) use, allowing emission levels limited only by thermal safety standards. Later, the International Telecommunication Union adopted a Recommendation providing limits of radiation from ISM devices in order to protect radiocommunications. A variety of issues such as sideband and harmonic emissions, broadband sources, and the ever-increasing popularity of electrical switching devices and their victims, resulted in a steady development of standards and laws.


title: Electromagnetic compatibility

text: From the late 1970s, the popularity of modern digital circuitry rapidly grew. As the technology developed, with ever-faster switching speeds (increasing emissions) and lower circuit voltages (increasing susceptibility), EMC increasingly became a source of concern. Many more nations became aware of EMC as a growing problem and issued directives to the manufacturers of digital electronic equipment, which set out the essential manufacturer requirements before their equipment could be marketed or sold. Organizations in individual nations, across Europe and worldwide, were set up to maintain these directives and associated standards. In 1979, the American FCC published a regulation that required the electromagnetic emissions of all "digital devices" to be below certain limits. This regulatory environment led to a sharp growth in the EMC industry supplying specialist devices and equipment, analysis and design software, and testing and certification services. Low-voltage digital circuits, especially CMOS transistors, became more susceptible to ESD damage as they were miniaturised and, despite the development of on-chip hardening techniques, a new ESD regulatory regime had to be developed.


title: Electromagnetic compatibility

text: From the 1980s on the explosive growth in mobile communications and broadcast media channels put huge pressure on the available airspace. Regulatory authorities began squeezing band allocations closer and closer together, relying on increasingly sophisticated EMC control methods, especially in the digital communications domain, to keep cross-channel interference to acceptable levels. Digital systems are inherently less susceptible than analogue systems, and also offer far easier ways (such as software) to implement highly sophisticated protection and error-correction measures.


title: Electromagnetic compatibility

text: In 1985, the USA released the ISM bands for low-power mobile digital communications, leading to the development of Wi-Fi and remotely-operated car door keys. This approach relies on the intermittent nature of ISM interference and use of sophisticated error-correction methods to ensure lossless reception during the quiet gaps between any bursts of interference.


title: Yakshini

text: Yakshinis or yakshis (यक्षिणी or "yakṣī"; or "yakkhī") are a class of female nature spirits in Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain religious mythologies that are different from devas and asuras (classes of power-seeking beings), and gandharvas or apsaras (celestial nymphs). Yakshinis and their male counterparts, the yakshas, are one of the many paranormal beings associated with the centuries-old sacred groves of India. Yakshis are also found in the traditional legends of Northeastern Indian tribes, ancient legends of Kerala, and in the folktales of Kashmiri Muslims. Sikhism also mentions yakshas in its sacred texts.


title: Yakshini

text: The well behaved and benign ones are worshipped as tutelaries, they are the attendees of Kubera, the treasurer of the gods, and also the Hindu god of wealth who ruled Himalayan kingdom of Alaka. There are also malign and mischievous yakshinis with poltergeist-like behaviours, that can haunt and curse humans according to Indian folklore.


title: Yakshini

text: The ashoka tree is closely associated with yakshinis. The young girl at the foot of the tree is an ancient motif indicating fertility on the Indian subcontinent. One of the recurring elements in Indian art, often found as gatekeepers in ancient Buddhist and Hindu temples, is a yakshini with her foot on the trunk and her hands holding the branch of a stylized flowering ashoka or, less frequently, other tree with flowers or fruits.


title: Yakshini

text: The three sites of Bharhut, Sanchi, and Mathura, have yielded huge numbers of Yakshi figures, most commonly on the railing pillars of stupas. These show a clear development and progression that establishes certain characteristics of the Yakshi figure such as her nudity, smiling face and evident (often exaggerated) secondary sexual characteristics that lead to their association with fertility. The yakshi is usually shown with her hand touching a tree branch, in a sinuous "tribhanga" pose, thus some authors hold that the young girl at the foot of the tree is based on an ancient tree deity.


title: Yakshini

text: Yakshis were important in early Buddhist monuments as a decorative element and are found in many ancient Buddhist archaeological sites. They became Salabhanjikas (sal tree maidens) with the passing of the centuries, a standard decorative element of both Indian sculpture and Indian temple architecture.


title: Yakshini

text: The sal tree "(Shorea robusta)" is often confused with the ashoka tree "(Saraca indica)" in the ancient literature of the Indian Subcontinent. The position of the Salabhanjika is also related to the position of Queen Māyā of Sakya when she gave birth to Gautama Buddha under an asoka tree in a garden in Lumbini, while grasping its branch.


title: Yakshini

text: In the "Uddamareshvara Tantra", thirty-six yakshinis are described, including their mantras and ritual prescriptions. A similar list of yakshas and yakshinis are given in the "Tantraraja Tantra", where it says that these beings are givers of whatever is desired. They are the guardians of the treasure hidden in the earth.They can be Sattvik, Rajas, Tamas in nature.


title: Yakshini

text: The sadhak can take yakshini as mother, sister or wife before commencing it. Proper mantra dikshaa from guru can speed up the mantra siddhi. They can be invoked with mantra "Om hreem shreem nityadravae mada (yakshini name) shreem hreem". The list of thirty six yakshinis given in the "Uddamareshvara Tantra" is as follows, along with some of the associated legends: