title: Bruce Bochy

text: On June 26, 2016, Bochy recorded his 800th win as Giants manager. On June 30, Bochy became the first manager since 1976 to intentionally forfeit the designated hitter, allowing Madison Bumgarner to bat for himself against the Oakland Athletics. With an 87–75 record, the Giants made the 2016 postseason as the second wild-card team, clinching on the final day of the regular season. The Giants defeated the New York Mets 3–0 in the NL Wild Card Game, their 11th straight postseason series win, dating back to 2010. The Giants lost the 2016 NLDS in four games to the Chicago Cubs, their first postseason series loss under Bochy.


title: Bruce Bochy

text: On April 9, 2017, at Petco Park, in a 5–3 win over the San Diego Padres, Bochy won his 840th game as Giants manager, tying Dusty Baker for the most wins in the West Coast portion of Giants history. The next day, in the Giants' home opener at AT&T Park and a 4–1 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks, Bochy surpassed Baker to become the all-time San Francisco Giants managerial wins leader. On May 3, 2017, Bochy became the 15th manager to reach 1,800 wins. On September 25 at Chase Field, in a 9–2 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks, Bochy won his 900th career game as manager of the San Francisco Giants, making him the first manager in Major League history to win 900 games with two different teams. Expected to be postseason contenders in 2017, the Giants instead fell to 64–98, matching Bochy's worst record as a manager, and the Giants' worst since 1985.


title: Bruce Bochy

text: On July 29, 2018, Bochy recorded his 1,906th career victory as manager, surpassing Casey Stengel into 11th place on MLB's career wins list. Numerous injuries and an underperforming offense resulted in the Giants finishing 73–89 in 2018. With Mike Scioscia stepping down as the Los Angeles Angels manager on the last day of the 2018 MLB season, Bochy entered the 2019 season as the longest-tenured manager in Major League Baseball.


title: Bruce Bochy

text: On February 18, 2019, Bochy announced he would retire following the conclusion of the 2019 season. On June 4 at Citi Field, in a 9-3 win over the New York Mets, Bochy won his 1,000th game as manager of the Giants. Bochy became the 25th manager to win 1,000 games with one team and he also joins John McGraw as the only two managers in Giants franchise history to reach the milestone and the first in San Francisco. On August 25, 2019, Bochy managed his 4,000th career game. He is only the eighth manager to manage 4,000 games. On September 18, 2019, Bochy won his 2,000th career game as a manager. He is the eleventh manager to win 2,000 games. The other ten managers are all in the Hall of Fame.


title: Bruce Bochy

text: Bochy finished his Giants managerial career with a regular season record of 1052–1054 and a post–season record of 36–17. In 13 seasons under Bochy, the Giants had seven winning seasons, four playoff appearances, and three NL pennants and World Series championships. After retiring as manager, Bochy served in a front office role with the Giants.


title: Bruce Bochy

text: On October 21, 2022, the Texas Rangers hired Bochy as their new manager and 29th in franchise history. He is also the first manager in the two-league era to have managed over 4,000 games in one league before managing a single game in the other, as this was his first managerial job in the American League. He is the second manager in the two-league era after Dusty Baker to have managed over 3,000 games in one league before managing a single game in the other.


title: Bruce Bochy

text: Bochy is the third of four children. His older brother Joe was a one-time catcher in the Minnesota Twins system, and later worked as a professional scout for the Padres and Giants.


title: Bruce Bochy

text: Bochy met his wife, Kim Seib, while at Brevard Community College in 1975 and they married in 1978. They reside in Poway, California and have two sons, Greg and Brett. Greg Bochy spent several seasons playing minor league baseball in the San Diego Padres system. Bochy's younger son, Brett Bochy, was drafted by the Giants in 2010. Brett was called up to the majors on September 2, 2014, making Bruce the seventh manager in MLB history to manage his own son. On September 13, 2014, Bruce became the first manager to give the ball to his son coming out of the bullpen.


title: Bruce Bochy

text: Bochy is known for having one of the largest cap sizes in Major League Baseball. With Houston, his nickname was "Headly," due to his unusually large head, with a hat size measurement of 8. When he joined the Mets in 1982, they did not have a helmet that would fit him, and they had to send for the ones he was using in the minors.


title: Bruce Bochy

text: On February 19, 2015, Bochy underwent angioplasty to have two stents inserted in a blood vessel that was 90 percent blocked. On August 8, 2016, Bochy was hospitalized overnight for an irregular heartbeat and underwent a cardioversion procedure, missing one game. On April 18, 2017, Bochy underwent a minor heart ablation to reduce discomfort, mostly due to an atrial flutter, and missed two games. After the 2017 season, Bochy underwent another ablation procedure to treat an atrial fibrillation.


title: Bruce Bochy

text: In May 2011, Bochy won the Ronald L. Jensen Award for Lifetime Achievement, which he accepted at Positive Coaching Alliance's National Youth Sports Awards. In 2011, the baseball field at Brevard Community College was named Bruce Bochy Field in his honor. In 2015, Bochy released "A Book of Walks" (), describing his favorite walks around San Francisco and other major league cities.


title: Bruce Bochy

text: Bochy has rated Johnny Bench as the first choice on "His Top Five Catchers, All-Time" list, with the following in descending order: Carlton Fisk, Yogi Berra, Thurman Munson, and Iván Rodríguez.


title: Decongestant

text: A decongestant, or nasal decongestant, is a type of pharmaceutical drug that is used to relieve nasal congestion in the upper respiratory tract. The active ingredient in most decongestants is either pseudoephedrine or phenylephrine (the latter of which has disputed effectiveness). Intranasal corticosteroids can also be used as decongestants and antihistamines can be used to alleviate runny nose, nasal itch, and sneezing.


title: Decongestant

text: Topical decongestants on topical application as dilute solution (0.05–0.1%) produce local vasoconstriction.


title: Decongestant

text: Regular use of decongestants for long periods should be avoided because mucosal ciliary function is impaired: atrophic rhinitis and anosmia (loss of the sense of smell) can occur due to persistent vasoconstriction.


title: Decongestant

text: Decongestants can be absorbed from the nose via an inhaler and produce systemic effects, mainly central nervous system stimulation and rise in blood pressure. These drugs should be used cautiously in hypertensives and in those receiving monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs), as they can cause hypertensive crisis.


title: Decongestant

text: Decongestants are used to treat nasal congestion, for instance in allergies, infections like the common cold, influenza, and sinus infection, and nasal polyps.


title: Decongestant

text: A 2016 Cochrane review found insufficient evidence to support the use of intranasal corticosteroids in the relief of common cold symptoms; however, the review was based on three trials and the quality of the evidence was regarded as very low.


title: Decongestant

text: The vast majority of decongestants act via enhancing norepinephrine (noradrenaline) and epinephrine (adrenaline) or adrenergic activity by stimulating the α1-adrenergic receptor since they mediate vasoconstriction and constricting nasal vasculature causes decongestion of nasal mucosa. This induces vasoconstriction of the blood vessels in the nose, throat, and paranasal sinuses, which results in reduced inflammation (swelling) and mucus formation in these areas.


title: Decongestant

text: Decongestant nasal sprays and eye drops often contain oxymetazoline and are used for topical decongestion. Pseudoephedrine acts indirectly on the adrenergic receptor system, whereas phenylephrine and oxymetazoline are direct agonists. The effects are not limited to the nose, and these medicines may cause hypertension (high blood pressure) through vasoconstriction; it is for this reason that people with hypertension are advised to avoid them. Most decongestants, however, are not pronounced stimulants, due to lack of response from the other adrenoreceptors. Besides hypertension, common side-effects include sleeplessness, anxiety, dizziness, excitability, and nervousness.


title: Decongestant

text: Topical nasal or ophthalmic decongestants quickly develop tachyphylaxis ("a rapid decrease in the response to a drug after repeated doses over a short period of time"). Long-term use is not recommended since these agents lose effectiveness after a few days.


title: Life (American TV series)

text: Life is an American crime drama television series created by Rand Ravich that aired for two seasons on NBC. It was produced by Universal Media Studios under the supervision of executive producers Rand Ravich, Far Shariat, David Semel, and Daniel Sackheim. Semel also directed the pilot.


title: Life (American TV series)

text: The series stars Damian Lewis as Charlie Crews, a detective released from prison after serving twelve years for a crime he did not commit. "Life" premiered on September 26, 2007, on NBC and aired on Wednesday nights at 10 ET. On May 4, 2009, NBC announced its cancellation, a month after the final episode had been aired. The series was later made available for streaming through Hulu and Netflix.


title: Life (American TV series)

text: "Life" centers on Detective Charlie Crews, who at the start of the first season (set in 2007) is released from Pelican Bay State Prison after serving twelve years of a life sentence. In 1995, he was wrongfully convicted of the triple murder of his friend and business partner, Tom Seybolt, and all but one of Seybolt's immediate family. Thanks to the efforts of his lawyer Constance Griffiths, DNA evidence exonerates him of the murders. Having lost his job, his wife, his friends, nearly all contact with the outside world and even his grip on reality for a time while in jail, he emerges enlightened by the philosophy of Zen, a fixation with fresh fruit (which he acquired while in prison, as it is nonexistent on the inside), and an obsession with solving the murders that nearly cost him his life and exposing the conspiracy that framed him for it. After successfully suing the city of Los Angeles and the LAPD, he is reinstated to the police department and receives an undisclosed amount of money, rumored at $50 million.


title: Life (American TV series)

text: Crews is partnered with Detective Dani Reese, previously an undercover narcotics agent and now a recovering drug addict and alcoholic (thanks to her work and several betrayals as an undercover cop). Crews is not well received by Lieutenant Karen Davis, who, during the season, tries to force Reese into offering information that will see Crews suspended and eventually fired. Even though she herself is uncomfortable with her new partner, Reese backs Crews up on numerous occasions, and the two slowly develop a bond.


title: Life (American TV series)

text: The overarching story of the first season concerns the murders for which Crews was wrongfully imprisoned, which leads him to confront various figures from his past such as his former patrol partner, his remarried ex-wife, and the detective who solved the triple-murder case and is still convinced of Crews' guilt. Near the end of the season, Crews manages to uncover information that implicates Reese's father (also a retired cop and Lt. Davis's former partner) in the murder. In the finale, Crews is able to bring the true killer, Kyle Hollis, to justice, but he remains unaware of the reasons behind his having been framed.


title: Life (American TV series)

text: The second season premiered on Monday, September 29, 2008. On July 21, 2008, producers announced the second season would effectively re-launch the series with a new "pilot" episode. Earlier in March 2008, series creator and executive producer Rand Ravich explained that the second season would delve deeper into the conspiracy in the framing of Charlie Crews. Similarly, more of Dani Reese's past would be revealed.


title: Life (American TV series)

text: Crews continues to investigate into the conspiracy to frame him and begins tracking some retired cops. He tracks down Rachel Seyboldt, the surviving member of his business partner's family and she moves in with him. Reese begins a relationship with the new captain after her father disappears. Crews eventually learns that he had been watched since the police academy, to eventually replace an aging crime lord. The intent was to corrupt Crews' friend Tom Seyboldt, who owned a bar with Crews and that by corrupting one business partner, they would also corrupt Crews. Mistakes were made, the Seyboldts were inadvertently murdered and Crews framed for the crime. The second season concludes with Crews trading himself for Reese after she is kidnapped by Roman Nevikov. Soon after, Crews kills Nevikov by crushing his windpipe. The last scene of the series shows Crews finally finding peace.


title: Life (American TV series)

text: In an interview with seat42f.com, series creator Rand Ravich explained that "Life" came initially from Ravich's own long-standing interest in, and desire to work on, a police procedural show. Ravich first created the character of Charlie Crews as the basis for the show; upon the completion of the script for the show's pilot, Ravich immediately considered actor Damian Lewis for the role.


title: Life (American TV series)

text: "Life" was conceived as an episodic television show in the vein of "24", where emotional closure is provided as new clues to the main mystery (the conspiracy that sent Charlie Crews to prison) are revealed every few episodes, with Ravich stating that he and the writers disliked the serial nature of some shows where it feels "like you’re kind of wandering in the desert".


title: Life (American TV series)

text: The series was created by Rand Ravich, who also served as executive producer alongside Far Shariat, David Semel, and Daniel Sackheim for Universal Media Studios. Semel also directed the pilot. Rafael Alvarez ("The Wire") was a writer and producer for the show. Alvarez also wrote a pilot called "Panic in Detroit" for NBC. Based on this piece they hired him to work on "Life" as a writer and producer.


title: Life (American TV series)

text: NBC issued an order for a minimum of three additional episodes, on top of the original order for seven, the day "Let Her Go" aired, October 10, 2007. On November 26 NBC announced that "Life" had received a full season. However, due to the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike only 11 of the 22 episodes were completed.


title: Life (American TV series)

text: After the strike ended on February 13, 2008, NBC decided not to film any more episodes for the 2007–08 season and instead announced that "Life" had been picked up for a second season and would return for the Fall 2008/09 season on Friday nights at 10/9c. The network released the first episode of season two, a week before its air date, online and via cable on demand.


title: Life (American TV series)

text: After the first season and the writers' strike was over, half of the writing staff of the show (originally six writers), who were all also producers, decided to quit and did not return for season 2. According to creator/showrunner Rand Ravich, it wasn't either due to the strike or over creative disagreement: "I just think people went on to do what they want to."


title: Life (American TV series)

text: One of the writers, Glen Mazzara, moved on to a new series, "Crash", starring Dennis Hopper, where he served as writer, executive producer and showrunner. Mazzara was also a writer and showrunner on 'The Walking Dead'.


title: Life (American TV series)

text: "Life" premiered on September 26, 2007, on NBC, aired on Wednesday. NBC initially ordered thirteen episodes of the show: an original order of seven episodes, and then on October 10, 2007, placed an order for at least three additional episodes, later pinned down as six episodes. In November 2007 NBC placed an order for the balance of a full season, nine additional episodes. This would've brought the show's first season to a standard 22 episodes, with NBC stating it was hitting its creative stride. However, due to the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, only 11 of the 22 episodes were completed.


title: Life (American TV series)

text: The second season premiered on Monday, September 29, 2008, and a second episode aired Friday, October 3, 2008. Another episode aired Monday, October 6, 2008, after which it was moved to its regular time slot of Friday nights at 10/9c and then after 4 weeks the show was moved to Wednesday nights at 9/8c.


title: Life (American TV series)

text: As of August 2008, "Life" has a 64% favorable rating for season 1 and a 72% rating for season 2 on Metacritic. Ken Tucker of "Entertainment Weekly" dubs the series "a very good new show that needs a more vivid title and more of NBC's promotional oomph" and praising the portrayal of Charlie Crews by the "beloved" Damian Lewis. In contrast, Gina Bellafante of "The New York Times" noted that the character of Detective Crews (and contemporary Adrian Monk of the series "Monk") did not portray "law enforcers as believable soldiers of the working class", which she considered a negative. Tonally though, she described the show as "a musical version of a Thomas Harris novel" (Harris is a noted and acclaimed author of crime novels) and found the narrative to be "incredibly satisfying".


title: Life (American TV series)

text: David Bianculli of the "Daily News" (New York) also likened the character of Crews to Adrian Monk, noting that "Lewis is commanding, and draws your attention without saying a word, almost as much as does Tony Shalhoub on "Monk."" He also praised Sarah Shahi for her performance as Dani Reese, stating that "it's easy to imagine her as the star of her own spinoff, taking her no-nonsense character front and center". Alan Sepinwall, reporter for "The Star-Ledger" instead cited a resemblance between Crews and main character Gregory House (played by British actor Hugh Laurie) of "House", but noting that "where House's quirks and bad behavior are ceaselessly amusing, Crews' idiosyncrasies -- also including a bafflement at modern technology like camera phones and instant messaging -- are already tired by the end of the first episode".


title: Life (American TV series)

text: Robert Bianco similarly made the comparison between "Life" and "House" and "Monk" but noted that the character of Crews is covered "with so many quirks, foibles, and eccentricities you can hardly spot poor Lewis underneath", concluding with "strip away the abrasive flourishes and what's left is a standard issue TV mystery with cases that are too easy to solve and internal conflicts and conspiracies that make no sense".


title: Life (American TV series)

text: In Australia, TV ratings for the first episode of Life on Network Ten reached 1.085 million viewers, making it one of the top programs viewed for that day and timeslot. The season finale aired in that country "(episode 8)" on 21 November achieved the ratings of 908,000 viewers.


title: Life (American TV series)

text: In Germany, the series is shown on VOX. The first episode of the second season got 15% (3.5 million) viewers.


title: Life (American TV series)

text: The show won a 2008 AFI Award for best television series. The show as nominated at the 7th Visual Effects Society Awards in the category of "Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Broadcast Program" but lost to Fringe.


title: DC connector

text: A DC connector (or DC plug, for one common type of connector) is an electrical connector for supplying direct current (DC) power.


title: DC connector

text: Compared to domestic AC power plugs and sockets, DC connectors have many more standard types that are not interchangeable. The dimensions and arrangement of DC connectors can be chosen to prevent accidental interconnection of incompatible sources and loads. Types vary from small coaxial connectors used to power portable electronic devices from AC adapters, to connectors used for automotive accessories and for battery packs in portable equipment.


title: DC connector

text: Small cylindrical connectors come in a variety of sizes. They may be known as "coaxial power connectors", "barrel connectors", "concentric barrel connectors" or "tip connectors".


title: DC connector

text: The intended use of these plugs is on the cable connected to an external AC adapter (power supply). The matching jack or socket is permanently fitted to the equipment to be powered. Some of these jacks contain a normally closed contact, which can be used to disconnect internal batteries whenever the power supply is connected, avoiding the risk of battery leakage or explosion posed by incorrect recharging of the batteries.


title: DC connector

text: Cylindrical plugs usually have an insulated tip constructed to accept insertion of a pin. The outer body of the plug is one contact, most often but "not always" the negative side of the supply. Inverted polarity plugs can, and do, damage circuitry when plugged in, even if the voltage is correct; not all equipment is equipped with protection. A pin mounted in the socket makes contact with a second internal contact. The outer plug contact is often called the "barrel", "sleeve" or "ring", while the inner one is called the "tip".


title: DC connector

text: There are a wide variety of sizes and designs for these power connectors, and many appear quite similar to each other yet are not quite mechanically or electrically compatible. In addition to a plethora of generic designs (whose original designer is unknown) there are at least two different national standards—EIAJ in Japan and DIN in Germany, plus the JSBP connector used on some laptop computers. The Japanese EIAJ standard includes five different sizes, with each supporting a specified range of voltages. Most of the other coaxial DC power connectors have no specified voltage association, however. Generic plugs are often named for the pin diameter they are designed to take.


title: DC connector

text: Many non-proprietary co-axial power plugs are in outside diameter (OD) and in length. Two pin sizes are common in the jacks for this size plug body, and , and the plugs should match. If the size is not known, it is difficult to distinguish by eye or measurement between the 2.1mm and 2.5mm ID plugs; some suppliers suggest simple methods.


title: DC connector

text: Maximum current ratings commonly vary from unspecified up to 5 A (11 A for special high power versions from some companies), with 1 A, 2 A and 5 A being common values. The smaller types usually have lower ratings, both for current and voltage. The 'tip' (i.e., the inner conductor) usually carries the positive (+) pole, but some devices, and their power supplies, use negative tip. Connector size does not usually indicate the voltage. It is not possible, except for some proprietary connectors, to reliably infer any information on power parameters (current, voltage, polarity, even whether AC or DC) by examining the connector.


title: DC connector

text: Snap and lock DC power connectors look similar to Mini-DIN connectors, but have either 3 or 4 thicker pins and a slightly larger mating shell. Because of this they do not mate with any of the standardized Mini-DIN connectors. Some devices, however, use a true 4-pin Mini-DIN connector for power instead, presenting the possibility to mate such a connector with the wrong port (such as an S-Video output).


title: DC connector

text: Molex connectors were frequently used as DC power connectors in personal computers, for floppy, hard disk, and CD drives. These connectors have four pins, +5 V (red), 2 common ground (black), and +12 V (yellow). SATA peripherals use a different style of connector.


title: DC connector

text: The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) has produced a standard for a system of 2-pin plugs and socket-outlets for household and similar purposes in fixed and portable applications, either indoors or outdoors. Safety extra-low voltage (SELV) plugs and socket-outlets carry up to 16 amperes, and have eight keying possibilities, to indicate 6, 12, 24, or 48 volts, AC or DC.


title: DC connector

text: The connector is circular, with the male connector having two pins placed symmetrically inside a circular shield, and the female connector having two receptacles surrounded by a circular groove to accept the male shield, in turn surrounded by a second circular shield which projects past the mating surface and encloses the male connector. (It somewhat resembles a smaller IEC 60309 connector.)


title: DC connector

text: The male shield has two keys projecting inwards, which fit into notches in the female body. The larger key is at right angles to the pins, wide and ending at a radius of from the connector centre. The corresponding notch is wide and ends at a radius of from the connector centre.


title: DC connector

text: The angle of the second key from the first indicates the voltage and current type. The eight permitted angles are multiples of 30° which are not multiples of 90°. Angles of ±30° and ±60° indicate alternating current (50 or 60 Hz), while angles of ±120° or ±150° indicate direct current with the pin at 90° being negative and the pin at 270° being positive.


title: DC connector

text: The second key is smaller than the first, wide ending at a radius of from the connector centre. The corresponding notch in the female connector body is wide and ends at a radius of from the connector centre.


title: DC connector

text: With the angles measured clockwise looking at the female connector (counter-clockwise looking at the male), the various key positions indicate:


title: DC connector

text: The so-called "Mini IEC connectors" are unrelated and not even standardized by the IEC at all; they are called that because they resemble a smaller IEC C13 connector.


title: DC connector

text: The JST RCY-series connector is a 2.5mm-pitch and manufactured by J.S.T. Mfg. Co., Ltd. It is known in radio control circles as the battery eliminator circuit (BEC) or P connector. JST also produces other types of connectors that are used in R/C and hobby electronics.


title: DC connector

text: The Deans style T-Plug connector is a polarized high power plug that inhibits accidental reversed connections. This also applies in particular to avoid the LiPo flash, which can cause burn injuries or related damage. Depending on the make, Deans plugs are sensitive to overheating during soldering, as the plastic can become soft and the plug surfaces can easily twist. Depending on the construction, they can support currents up to 40A (pulse to 70A).


title: DC connector

text: Usual pin assignment T-Plug: negative (-) is the parallel pin; positive (+) is the perpendicular pin.


title: DC connector

text: Inverter tabs/lugs are available in 2, 4, and 8 AWG. These are designed to pass very high currents at voltages up to 600 V DC to and from battery packs, inverters, and other high-current loads to a terminal bus.


title: DC connector

text: Two different airline in-seat power supply system (ISPSS) standards for DC power have been used in the past. American Airlines in the past used an automobile auxiliary power outlet. Most other airlines that provide DC power use the smaller EmPower system, which has a 4-pin Hypertronics' D-series connector. It can supply 15 volts maximum 5 amperes.


title: DC connector

text: Powerpole connectors are a series of connectors developed by Anderson Power Products and are available in a variety of sizes and colors. The commonly used 15/30/45 series connectors are interoperable with each other and use the same housings but use different contacts for different wire sizes and current requirements.


title: DC connector

text: Powerpole connectors are physically and electrically genderless, thus avoiding the need to worry about which end is the plug and which the socket, or which end has the correct polarity, as is the case with the physically but not electrically genderless two-wire trailer plug.


title: DC connector

text: Powerpoles have been adopted as a standard 12 V connector by most RACES Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service organizations and ARES Amateur Radio Emergency Service units. They deliver good current capability for their sizes. They also facilitate very easy pluggability for those without good eyesight or good lighting. However, they can be damaged relatively easily and can occasionally separate from each other easily with minimal force unless additional retaining measures are taken.


title: DC connector

text: The SAE connector is a physically self-mating hermaphrodite two-conductor DC connector commonly used for solar and automotive applications (also motorcycles). It is so named for the Society of Automotive Engineers who created the specifications this connector is based on.


title: DC connector

text: Although the plug is physically hermaphroditic, and any SAE connector can be connected to any other SAE connector, they are NOT electrically hermaphroditic and care needs to be taken to maintain correct polarity when connecting different plugs to each other.


title: DC connector

text: This connector is typically used for applying a maintenance charge to a vehicle battery. The polarity of the connector, when installed in a vehicle and attached to a battery, is always such that no short circuit will occur if the exposed terminal were to touch the vehicle chassis. In most vehicles, this means that the exposed terminal connects to the negative terminal of the battery. Conversely, the positive terminal on a battery charger is exposed, to mate with the concealed one on the vehicle side. (On vehicles with a positive-ground frame, such as vintage British motorcycles, this is reversed.)


title: DC connector

text: Although there is a risk of short-circuiting a battery charger, the risk is minimal and often mitigated by the circuitry of the battery charger itself. On the other hand, the short-circuit current of the lead–acid batteries installed in vehicles is sufficiently great, that a short circuit could result in a fire or explosion. The priority is therefore given to avoiding short circuits of the vehicle battery, rather than of the charger.


title: DC connector

text: Although the term "SAE connector" is commonly used to refer to the pictured two-pin connector, there are many different connector standards designated by SAE International that may also be referred to by this term. Furthermore, while the design of the subject connector was inspired by and based on SAE Standards, the connector itself has no official SAE designation.


title: DC connector

text: The car power outlet is also called a cigarette lighter receptacle, or cigar lighter receptacle, since it was originally designed as a lighter for cigars—hence its rather large size. Nowadays, it is used to power automotive accessories such as portable inverters, mobile phone chargers and portable refrigerators.


title: DC connector

text: These sockets were not originally designed to provide DC power, and are not an ideal DC connector for several reasons, but still widely used for compatibility to existing accessories. Three sizes exist, one for 6 V and two for 12 V and the mating of the different sized 12 V plugs and jacks is problematic. Because of this, and the small gauge wire sometimes used, they may provide unreliable power connections.


title: DC connector

text: The polarity for 12 V sockets is center pin positive (+), outer collar negative (−). Reversed polarity will damage some electronic devices.


title: DC connector

text: Although the nominal voltage of a 12 V lead acid battery is 12 V, when the engine is running the car's battery charging system will bring the system voltage to 13.8 V or higher. The possible range of battery voltages from 11–15 V must be taken into account by devices attached to the cigar lighter socket.


title: DC connector

text: This connector is also often used for powering accessories on motorcycles, such as heated clothing (vests, gloves, etc.) or GPS units. This makes "plugging in" easier to manage while wearing gloves. As the accessory lacks any power of its own, there's no risk of "shorting" the exposed connector.


title: DC connector

text: Found most frequently on motorcycles, it is also known as a "BMW Accessory", "Hella", "Merit", "Norm" or "Powerlet" connector.


title: DC connector

text: In the broadcast, film, and television industries, the 4-pin XLR connector is the standard for 12 V power. The connectors are wired pin 1 negative, pin 4 positive. Often pins 1 and 2 will be negative, 3 and 4 positive for a higher current rating. Female connectors are used as supply and male connectors are used on loads. Most battery belts and power supplies output 13.2 V, but equipment can usually handle a range of 11–18 volts to accommodate battery packs of varying voltages and charging while operating.


title: DC connector

text: The readily available XLR3 is also used by some manufacturers as power supply plugs despite their being a well-accepted standard for other purposes.


title: DC connector

text: In Australia, a T-configuration Clipsal socket is used for extra-low voltage DC power outlets, such as in stand-alone power systems (SAPS) or on boats, in order to prevent accidental connections of 12 V appliances into socket-outlets. This connector is also used for temporary equipment in emergency vehicles.


title: DC connector

text: The connector pins are mutually perpendicular, and are usually oriented to look like a capital T. Polarity at the outlet can be random, and must be verified to avoid equipment damage.


title: DC connector

text: Due to the popularity of USB for mobile phones and tablets, USB sockets and plugs have become a common choice for other small devices that require five volts or less, even those that require no data connection. Examples include flashlights, toys such as small helicopters, and rechargeable battery packs (which in turn provide five volts over USB to recharge other devices). Wall sockets with built-in USB power adapters and USB sockets are available.


title: DC connector

text: The EU has adapted the common external power supply specification, which standardizes data-enabled mobile phones to use the micro USB-B connector. As of 2016, most new mobile phones use this connector for charging.


title: DC connector

text: In 2012, the USB Power Delivery (PD) specification was released. The USB PD specification provides the ability for 5 V devices to draw more than (the USB battery-charging specification limit of) 7.5 W of power from USB "PD-aware" ports when using PD-aware USB cables. The specification also allows USB PD ports to provide even greater power at higher voltages over PD-aware cables – up to 36 W at 12 V and 60 W at 20 V (for micro-USB connectors) and up to 60 W at 12 V and 100 W at 20 V (for standard USB A/B connectors).


title: DC connector

text: The new USB-C plug is expected to eventually become the new standard for charging (and data transfer) over USB.


title: DC connector

text: The Anderson SBS and SBS Mini series of connectors are rated at up to 600 VDC at (depending on the connector) 50 A, 75 A or 110 A. They are only rated for disconnection under load at up to 120 VDC however.


title: DC connector

text: These connectors see use as battery bank connectors in higher power UPS systems, where the battery bank voltages are between 48 VDC and 500 VDC.


title: DC connector

text: MC4 connectors are common on photovoltaic panels. Because these panels are exposed to the weather for decades, MC4 includes a rubber sealing ring to keep out moisture. Because solar panels are often stacked in strings of hundreds of volts, MC4 has locking clips to hold the wires together. Because solar panels can be connected in series strings, or parallel arrays, the positive and negative terminals use separate connectors.


title: DC connector

text: The "IEC TS 62735" standard specifies connectors capable of carrying between 294 and 400 VDC. There are two connectors in the standard rated at 2.6 kW and 5.2 kW. The lower current plug can be inserted into the higher current socket, but the higher current plug will not mate with the lower current socket. The 2.6 kW plug can be disconnected under load, but the 5.2 kW plug cannot.


title: DC connector

text: Designed primarily for supplying power to computer and communications equipment, these connectors are intended to allow data centers to migrate towards supplying equipment with DC power as an alternative to AC.


title: DC connector

text: The Saf-D-Grid connector delivers up to 600 VDC at up to 30 A, with the connector occupying the same space as an IEC 320 C13/C14 connector normally limited to 250 VAC at 10 A. The connector can also be disconnected under load.


title: DC connector

text: Like the IEC 62735, this connector was designed to replace the IEC connector used in computer power supplies so that they can be operated from 380–400 VDC instead. Introduced in January 2009, it arrived before the competing IEC standard, however despite this it has not seen widespread use.


title: DC connector

text: The Imperium connector from Molex is aimed at automotive applications and is rated at 1000 VDC at 250 A. As of 2021 the manufacturer has classed this connector as obsolete.


title: DC connector

text: In order to avoid heavy transformers onboard vehicles, high power charging of battery electric vehicles has the transformers in the ground station, and supply to the vehicle is done with DC at around 400 volts.


title: Bullet Train (novel)

text: It is the second novel in Isaka's "Hitman" trilogy after "Three Assassins" (original Japanese title: "Grasshopper") published in 2004, and before "AX" in 2017, with characters from the novel also being incorporated into the spin-off manga series "Waltz", serialized in Shogakukan's "Monthly Shōnen Sunday" from October 10, 2009, to February 10, 2012.


title: Bullet Train (novel)

text: At Tokyo Station, Yuichi Kimura, a former hitman, boards the "Hayate" train on the Tōhoku Shinkansen bound for Morioka to take revenge against the teenage Satoshi Oji, who is referred to as "the Prince" by his friends. Kimura's six-year-old son, Wataru, is in a coma after the Prince pushed him off the roof of an apartment building for fun. However, the Prince knows exactly who Kimura is and actually lured him onto the train. When Kimura approaches, the Prince knocks him out with an improvised taser and ties him up. The confident Prince is a sociopath who likes to manipulate people, and when Kimura awakes, the Prince takes control of him, threatening Wataru's life; an acquaintance is watching over him in the hospital and will kill him if the Prince is harmed and unable to answer his phone.


title: Bullet Train (novel)

text: Tangerine and Lemon are an odd couple of skillful hitmen; Tangerine is composed and well-read, while Lemon is frantic and obsessed with "Thomas & Friends". The pair just rescued the kidnapped son of mob boss Yoshio Minegishi, and they are returning the boy and suitcase of ransom money to Minegishi in Morioka. Lemon misplaces the suitcase, and Minegishi's son mysteriously ends up dead while they leave him unattended. At each station on the way, Minegishi's subordinates are also assigned to check on their progress, so Tangerine tries to think of a way out.


title: Bullet Train (novel)

text: Nanao is a hitman with the code name "Ladybug", who constantly laments how unlucky he is; every job he takes has been successful, but somewhere it goes wrong and becomes much more difficult than anticipated. His handler Maria has procured him the easiest job she could: to board the Shinkansen at Tokyo Station, steal the suitcase from Tangerine and Lemon, and immediately get off at Ueno Station. When he tries to get off in Ueno, he comes face to face with "the Wolf", another hitman with a vendetta against Ladybug, who is about to board the same train car. Recognizing Ladybug, the Wolf doesn't let him off and brags about his luck taking on a new contract and meeting Ladybug at the same time. Ladybug gets the upper hand in a brief struggle and unintentionally breaks the Wolf's neck when the train rocks. Meanwhile, the Prince comes by to use the restroom and notices something is odd as Ladybug holds up the Wolf, awkwardly calling him a drunk friend, and tries to shoo the Prince away. Ladybug hides the Wolf's corpse in a seat, takes the photo of the Wolf's target, and hides the suitcase in a hidden compartment in the trash receptacle while he finds a seat to wait for the next station, where Maria tells him to get off. When the Prince returns, he discovers the hidden suitcase and tries to think of ways to further manipulate other passengers for his entertainment.


title: Bullet Train (novel)

text: Each of the three sets of hitmen escapes from their own crisis, and the prince takes action on the immobile Shinkansen to play with the adults.


title: Bullet Train (novel)

text: "Bullet Train" received "Rave" reviews according to the book review aggregator Book Marks based on seven independent reviews. It received a starred review from "Publishers Weekly" as well as "Booklist", where Christine Tran described it as "a twisty, darkly hilarious game of musical chairs that draws out the train's hidden army of assassins and a strong dose of Machiavellian justice." Reviewers praised the fast pacing and the darkly comedic elements of the story.


title: Bullet Train (novel)

text: The novel also inspired the Hollywood film adaptation, "Bullet Train", directed by David Leitch and starring Brad Pitt. The film was released theatrically on August 5, 2022.


title: Mink Stole

text: Nancy Paine Stoll (born August 25, 1947), known professionally as Mink Stole, is an American actress from Baltimore, Maryland. She began her career working for director John Waters, and has appeared in all of his feature films to date (a distinction shared only with Mary Vivian Pearce). Her extensive work with Waters has made her one of the Dreamlanders, Waters' ensemble of regular cast and crew members.


title: Mink Stole

text: She was born into a large Roman Catholic family, and has nine siblings, including children's-book author Ellen Stoll Walsh and sculptor George Stoll. Her father, Joseph A. Stoll, died in 1955, and her mother, Nell, remarried twice, resulting in an extensive step-family.


title: Mink Stole

text: Stole has performed in most of the films by close friend John Waters. Her film career began as a party guest in Waters' film "Roman Candles". Since then, she has appeared in all of his feature films up to and including 2004's "A Dirty Shame". The only Waters films in which she does not appear are the early short films "Hag in a Black Leather Jacket", "Eat Your Makeup", and "The Diane Linkletter Story". She has appeared in a number of films and television shows, and wrote a column for the "Baltimore City Paper" titled "Think Mink" until mid-April 2006. She is the lead singer of Mink Stole and Her Wonderful Band, of which musicians Kristian Hoffman, George Baby Woods, and Brian Grillo have been members. The Baltimore incarnation of Mink Stole and Her Wonderful Band (2009–present) includes Scott Wallace Brown (piano, organ), Walker Teret (upright bass, guitar), Skizz Cyzyk (drums), and John Irvine (trumpet).


title: Mink Stole

text: In 1999, Stole appeared in the satirical lesbian film "But I'm A Cheerleader" alongside Natasha Lyonne in the role of Megan's mother. In April 2009, Stole connected with cult director Steve Balderson for "Stuck!", an homage to film noir women in prison dramas. Co-starring Karen Black, Pleasant Gehman and Jane Wiedlin, "Stuck!" was filmed in Macon, Georgia. Stole played Esther, a religious inmate sentenced to death.<ref name="ows/cast"></ref><ref name="ows/synopsis"></ref> She once again co-starred with Natasha Lyonne in Joshua Grannell's "All About Evil".


title: Mink Stole

text: She received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2010 Boston Underground Film Festival in Cambridge following the East Coast Premiere of "Stuck!" on March 27, 2010. In 2011 she successfully completed a Kickstarter fundraising project to finance her first CD, titled "Do Re MiNK". The CD was released on May 23, 2013.


title: Mink Stole

text: Mink Stole lives in Baltimore, and also has a second home in the Los Angeles area. She performs weddings as an ordained minister of the Universal Life Church.


title: Hsu Wei-ning

text: Hsu Wei-ning (; born 7 August 1984), also known as Tiffany Ann Hsu, is a Taiwanese actress. Hsu began her career as a model, and first came to attention for her supporting roles in the Taiwanese drama series "It Started with a Kiss" and its sequel "They Kiss Again". She also worked as a VJ for MTV Taiwan.


title: Hsu Wei-ning

text: Her performance as Doris in the Taiwanese film "Design 7 Love" earned her a Golden Horse Award nomination for Best New Performer. She appeared in the drama series "The Way We Were", for which she won a Golden Bell Award for Best Supporting Actress. She is also known for starring in the supernatural horror film "The Tag-Along" (2015) and its sequel "The Tag-Along 2" (2017).


title: Hsu Wei-ning

text: Hsu's father is Italian-American and her mother is Taiwanese. Her father abandoned the family before she was born, leaving her mother to raise Hsu with the assistance of her maternal grandparents and her other family members. Hsu attended the Hwa Kang Arts School in Taipei where she was classmates with Rainie Yang and Alien Huang. She graduated from the Chinese Cultural University with a major in Drama Acting in 2007. Friends call her by her middle name, Ann, which is also the English name listed on her agency's profile webpage.


title: Hsu Wei-ning

text: Hsu was first noticed by Catwalk Model Agency when she participated in a talent casting for MTV Taiwan and was then signed up to be a fashion model in 2003.


title: Hsu Wei-ning

text: In 2004, Hsu appeared in her first TV series "Jia You Fei Fei" (家有菲菲) and sang the theme song "甜姐辣妹". In 2005, she starred in the series It Started with a Kiss as second female lead. In 2007, Hsu appeared in her first film "Amour-Legende" (松鼠自殺事件). In 2009, Hsu starred in the idol drama "ToGetHer" and "Autumn's Concerto". In 2011, Hsu starred as the second female lead of the TV drama "Love You". In 2012, Hsu appeared in the micro-film "Wishing for Happiness". She also starred as the female lead for the first time in the romance-drama series, "Love Me or Leave Me (TV series)", as a woman who was afraid of getting married but then regretted her decision when another woman tried to steal her boyfriend. In 2014, she starred in her first film as female lead in "Design 7 Love" (相愛的七種設計). Hsu also starred in a Resorts World Sentosa promotional four-part micro-film series titled "Cupid's World of Happiness" (丘比特的幸福世界) alongside Leon Jay Williams and Xiao Xiao Bin. The 40-minute-long microfilm (four episodes of 10 minutes each) tells the story of two vacationers unexpectedly meeting and finding love with each other through a series of adventures during their stay at Resorts World Sentosa. In 2014, Hsu earned wider recognition after appearing in the TVBS series "The Way We Were". Her performance won her a Golden Bell Award for Best Supporting Actress.


title: Hsu Wei-ning

text: In 2015, Hsu starred in the horror film "The Tag-Along", playing a smart and independent radio DJ who has a fear of commitment in relationships. The movie was well received by critics and did well at the box-office in Taiwan. It opened in second place with NT$8.73 million over three days, which is the best opening for a Taiwanese film since "Our Times".


title: Hsu Wei-ning

text: In October 2017, Hsu and Taiwanese cinematographer Liu You-nian were confirmed to be in a relationship. They divorced at the end of 2020. after two years.


title: Hsu Wei-ning

text: On 10 December 2021, Hsu announced her marriage to Roy Chiu, her co-star in the 2021 romance film "Man in Love".


title: America's Test Kitchen

text: America's Test Kitchen (originally America's Test Kitchen from Cook's Illustrated Magazine) is a half-hour long cooking show broadcast by PBS and Create. Originally hosted by Christopher Kimball, the program currently is co-hosted by Julia Collin Davison and Bridget Lancaster.


title: America's Test Kitchen

text: On the show, a handful of test cooks are filmed in a real, working test kitchen, including hosts Davison and Lancaster and chefs Keith Dresser, Becky Hays, Lan Lam, Erin McMurrer, Elle Simone Scott, and Dan Souza. Also, Bryan Roof, Christie Morrison, Ashley Moore, Lawman Johnson, and Morgan Bolling


title: America's Test Kitchen

text: prepare recipes as they discuss what works, what doesn't, and why, highlighting the rigorous recipe testing process at the core of the test kitchen's mission. Equipment expert Adam Ried, gadget critic Lisa McManus, and tasting expert Jack Bishop help viewers understand what to look for when buying gear and ingredients.


title: America's Test Kitchen

text: The show is affiliated with America's Test Kitchen, publishers of "Cook's Illustrated" and "Cook's Country" magazines, and beginning in Season 19, the show is recorded at ATK's test kitchen facility at the Innovation and Design Building in Boston, Massachusetts.


title: America's Test Kitchen

text: A typical episode of the show consists primarily of two or three recipes that are consistent with the theme of the episode. Each recipe is tested 40-60 times before appearing on the show or in the books, at an average cost of $10,000; they also have a network of 35,000 people who have volunteered to test them. For broadcast, each recipe is presented by a test cook to one of the hosts, Julia Collin Davison or Bridget Lancaster, who walk through recipe steps, explain common problems that can occur when cooking it, and share discoveries made during the testing and the science behind the recipe using instructional graphics. Periodically throughout the episode, other segments are inserted, usually consisting of two or more of the following:


title: America's Test Kitchen

text: Through season 6 the show was taped in standard definition, 4:3 video; season 7 saw the show switch to widescreen 16:9 video. The high definition version of the show is broadcast as part of PBS HD's master digital schedule, and by some PBS affiliates as part of their normal schedules.


title: America's Test Kitchen

text: During recording, 26 episodes are videotaped during a three-week period. Six recipes are recorded per day, and there are two recipes demonstrated per episode.


title: America's Test Kitchen

text: "America's Test Kitchen" features several recurring cast members, although not every cast member appears in each episode.


title: America's Test Kitchen

text: Julia Collin Davison (identified on-screen before season 7 as "Julia Collin"), Bridget Lancaster, Kay Rentschler, Rebecca "Becky" Hays, Sandra Wu, Yvonne Ruperti, J. Kenji Alt (now J. Kenji Lopez-Alt), Erika Bruce, Bryan Roof and Dan Souza are the chefs who explain and prepare the recipes in each episode as Kimball watches and comments.


title: America's Test Kitchen

text: Yvonne Ruperti and J. Kenji Lopez-Alt departed the company in 2009 and 2011 respectively; Christopher Kimball, ATK co-founder, editor and publisher, who appeared from the show's inception through 2016, parted ways with the company and the show in the fall of that year over a contract dispute.


title: America's Test Kitchen

text: Usually only one or two of the chefs will appear in an episode. Collin Davison, Lancaster and Rentschler appeared as regular cast members on season 1. Since, Rentschler moved to the positions of Culinary Producer and Executive Chef by season 2 and appeared in only one episode that season, before leaving the show by Season 3. Hays joined the permanent cast in season 5, Bruce, Wu, and Ruperti each appear for a single season (seasons 5, 6, and 8, respectively), and Alt appears in seasons 7 and 8. All are prominent recipe testers or editors in "Cook's Illustrated".


title: America's Test Kitchen

text: Beginning in season 5, "Cook's Illustrated" staff chefs Hays, Bruce, Jeremy Sauer, and Matthew Card appeared in segments answering common viewer mail questions. Hays, Bruce, and Sauer joined the on-camera cast for season 6; Hays moved into credited cast member status beginning in season 7. Roof and Souza were added to the regular cast starting season 15.


title: Who put Bella in the Wych Elm?

text: "Who put Bella down the Wych Elm?" is graffiti that appeared in 1944 following the 1943 discovery by four children of the skeletonised remains of a woman inside a wych elm in Hagley Wood, Hagley (located in the estate of Hagley Hall), in Worcestershire, England. The victim—whose murder is estimated to have occurred in 1941—remains unidentified, and the current location of her skeleton and autopsy report is unknown.


title: Who put Bella in the Wych Elm?

text: On 18 April 1943, four local boys (Robert Hart, Thomas Willetts, Bob Farmer and Fred Payne) were poaching or bird–nesting in Hagley Wood, part of the Hagley estate belonging to Lord Cobham near Wychbury Hill when they came across a large wych elm. Thinking the location to be a particularly good place to search for birds' nests, Farmer attempted to climb the tree to investigate. As he climbed, he glanced down into the hollow trunk and discovered a skull. At first he believed it to be that of an animal, but after seeing human hair and teeth, he realised that he had found a human skull. As they were on the land illegally, Farmer put the skull back and all four boys returned home without mentioning their discovery to anybody. However, on returning home, the youngest of the boys, Willetts, felt uneasy about what he had witnessed and decided to report the find to his parents.


title: Who put Bella in the Wych Elm?

text: When police checked the trunk of the tree they found an almost complete skeleton, with a shoe, a gold wedding ring, and some fragments of clothing. The skull was valuable evidence, in that it still had some tufts of hair and had a clear dental pattern, despite some missing teeth. After further investigation, the remains of a hand were found some distance from the tree.


title: Who put Bella in the Wych Elm?

text: The body was sent for forensic examination by James Webster. He quickly established that it was that of a female who had been dead for at least 18 months, placing time of death in or before October 1941; Webster also discovered a section of taffeta in her mouth, suggesting that she had died from suffocation. From the measurement of the trunk in which the body had been discovered, he also deduced that it must have been placed there "still warm" after the killing, as it could not have fitted once "rigor mortis" had taken hold.


title: Who put Bella in the Wych Elm?

text: Police could tell from items found with the body what the woman had looked like, but with so many people reported missing during the Second World War, records were too numerous for a proper identification to take place. They cross-referenced the details they had with reports of missing persons throughout the region, but none of them seemed to match the evidence. In addition, they contacted dentists all over the country since the dentistry was quite distinctive.


title: Who put Bella in the Wych Elm?

text: In 1944, a graffiti message, related to the mystery, appeared on a wall in Upper Dean Street, Birmingham, reading "Who put Bella down the Wych Elm – Hagley Wood". This provided investigators with several new leads for tracing who the victim could have been. Other messages in the same hand appeared too. Since at least the 1970s, similar graffiti has sporadically appeared on the Hagley Obelisk near to where the woman's body was discovered, which asks the slightly modified "Who put Bella in the Witch Elm?."


title: Who put Bella in the Wych Elm?

text: An episode of the television programme "Nazi Murder Mysteries" described a forensic facial reconstruction undertaken by the Liverpool John Moores University's "Face Lab", from photographs of the skull. It was commissioned by Andrew Sparke, for his books on the incident.


title: Who put Bella in the Wych Elm?

text: In a Radio 4 programme first broadcast in August 2014, Steve Punt suggested two possible victims. One possible victim was reported to the police in 1944 by a Birmingham sex worker. In the report, she stated that another sex worker called Bella, who worked on the Hagley Road, had disappeared about three years previously. The name “Bella” (or “Luebella”) suggested the graffiti writer was probably aware of the identity of the victim.


title: Who put Bella in the Wych Elm?

text: A second possibility came from a statement made to police in 1953 by Una Mossop, in which she said that her ex-husband Jack Mossop had confessed to family members that he and a Dutchman called van Ralt had put the woman in the tree. Mossop and van Ralt met for a drink at the Lyttelton Arms (a pub in Hagley). Later that night, Mossop said the woman became drunk, and passed out while they were driving. The men put her in a hollow tree in the woods in the hope that in the morning she would wake up and be frightened into seeing the error of her ways. Jack Mossop was confined to a Stafford mental hospital, because he had recurring dreams of a woman staring out at him from a tree. He died in the hospital before the body in the wych elm was found. The likelihood of this being the correct explanation is questioned because Una Mossop did not come forward with this information until more than 10 years after Jack Mossop's death.


title: Who put Bella in the Wych Elm?

text: Another theory comes from an MI5 declassified file about Josef Jakobs – the last man to be put to death in the Tower of London, on 15 August 1941. An Abwehr agent, he parachuted into Cambridgeshire in 1941 but broke his ankle when landing and was soon arrested by the Home Guard. On his person was found a photo purportedly of his lover, a German cabaret singer and actress named Clara Bauerle. Jakobs said that she was being trained as a spy and that, had he made contact, she might have been sent over to England after him. However, there is no evidence that Clara Bauerle was parachuted into England, and several witnesses describe that Clara Bauerle was around tall, while Bella was . In September 2016, it was determined that Clara Bauerle had died in Berlin on 16 December 1942.


title: Who put Bella in the Wych Elm?

text: In 1945, Margaret Murray, an anthropologist and archaeologist at University College, London, proposed a more radical theory—witchcraft—because she believed that the severing of one hand was consistent with a ritual called the Hand of Glory, after the victim had been killed by Romani people during an occult ritual. Her ideas excited the local press and led investigators to consider another seemingly ritualistic killing of a man, Charles Walton, in nearby Lower Quinton.


title: Who put Bella in the Wych Elm?

text: In 1953, another theory surfaced, namely that the victim was a Dutchwoman named Clarabella Dronkers, and she had been killed by a German spy-ring consisting of a British officer, a Dutchman and a music hall artist, for "knowing too much". Available records and evidence were unable to support the story.


title: Kalpana Raghavendar

text: Kalpana Raghavendar (born 8 May 1980) is an Indian playback singer, winner of Idea Star Singer Malayalam and participant in Bigg Boss Telugu Season 1, songwriter and actor. She started her career as a playback singer at the age of five, and as of 2013 had recorded 1,500 tracks and performed in 3,000 shows in India and abroad.


title: Kalpana Raghavendar

text: In 2010 she was the winner of the south Indian singing show "Star Singer" season 5, conducted by the Malayalam TV channel Asianet. she was a judge of "Super Singer Junior 6".


title: Kalpana Raghavendar

text: Kalpana was born in a musical family. Her father, T. S. Raghavendra, was a reputed playback singer, actor and composer, while her mother, Sulochana, is also a singer. She has a younger sister, Shekinah Shawn (born Prasanna Raghavendar) who is popular as an Opera singer. Kalpana took her Carnatic music lessons under Madurai T. Srinivasan. Apart from her proficiency in singing, she holds a Master of Computer Applications degree and is pursuing Master of Philosophy.


title: Kalpana Raghavendar

text: Kalpana began her musical career at the age of 5. Her first vocals were for a family song alongside P. Susheela, Mano, M. M. Srilekha and her younger sister Prasanna, composed by the music director Saluri Vasurao. As an adult, she started her career as a full-fledged playback singer in 1999 by rendering her voice for the song "Mangalagouriki" from the Telugu film Manoharam under music director Mani Sharma. She has also worked with many legendary composers and singers like M. S. Viswanathan, Ilaiyaraaja, A. R. Rahman, K. V. Mahadevan, S. P. Balasubrahmanyam and K. S. Chithra. She is more familiar to the public as a stage performer rather than a playback singer, having performed nearly 3000 stage shows worldwide. In 2013, Kalpana was the lead performer in a tribute concert for her guru, Madurai T. Srinivasan.


title: Imagine (Gal Gadot video)

text: On 18 March 2020, Israeli actress Gal Gadot posted a video on Instagram of her, and a supergroup of celebrity friends, singing a rendition of the song "Imagine" by John Lennon, which intended to raise morale in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic.


title: Imagine (Gal Gadot video)

text: Gadot organized the video with help from Kristen Wiig. "Kristen is like the mayor of Hollywood," Gadot told "Vanity Fair". "Everyone loves her, and she brought a bunch of people to the game. But yeah, I started it, and I can only say that I meant to do something good and pure..."


title: Imagine (Gal Gadot video)

text: "The pandemic was in Europe and Israel before it came here (to the United States) in the same way. I was seeing where everything was headed." So she told Wiig, "Listen, I want to do this thing."


title: Imagine (Gal Gadot video)

text: "Hey guys, Day 6 in self-quarantine, and I gotta say the past few days got me feeling a bit philosophical," Gadot explains in the video's introduction. "You know this virus has affected the entire world, everyone. Doesn’t matter who you are, where you’re from, we’re all in this together."


title: Imagine (Gal Gadot video)

text: Gadot said she was inspired to make the video after seeing a man from Italy play "Imagine" on his saxophone from his balcony.


title: Imagine (Gal Gadot video)

text: "I ran into this video of this Italian guy playing the trumpet "(sic)" in his balcony to all the other people who were locked inside their homes. and he was playing "Imagine", and there was something so powerful and pure about this video..."


title: Imagine (Gal Gadot video)

text: The video received near-universal backlash, with critics dismissing it as an ineffective, out-of-touch, "cringey" response to the pandemic; Jon Caramanica of "The New York Times" called it "an empty and profoundly awkward gesture". Gadot later acknowledged the video did not garner the positive reaction that had been intended, but was unapologetic in explaining the thinking behind it. Gadot acknowledged the video ended up being in "poor taste", but still maintained that it was made with "pure intentions."


title: Imagine (Gal Gadot video)

text: The video was parodied by comedian Zack Fox, whose version was based on the song "Slob on My Nob" by Tear Da Club Up Thugs. Fox's version featured appearances from Eric André, Thundercat, 6lack, Quinta Brunson, Langston Kerman and Chuck Inglish, among others. Experimental musician Lingua Ignota also remixed the audio of Gadot's version in noise music style.


title: Imagine (Gal Gadot video)

text: The video was also parodied on the series "The Boys", in the opening scene of the episode "Herogasm" in which the character of The Deep, himself a parody of Aquaman (rather than Queen Maeve, the show's parody of Wonder Woman) mirrors Gadot's comments about feeling philosophical before starting to sing "Imagine" followed by celebrities such as Patton Oswalt, Mila Kunis, Ashton Kutcher, Rose Byrne, Kumail Nanjiani, Josh Gad and others individually singing a line of the song each.


title: Jeeva (director)

text: Jeeva (21 September 1963 – 26 June 2007) was an Indian filmmaker, cinematographer and film director in Tamil, Hindi and Malayalam-language cinema. He was an established cinematographer in the late 90s and early 2000s.


title: Jeeva (director)

text: Jeeva started his career assisting cinematographer P. C. Sreeram in the films such as "Nayakan", "Agni Natchathiram", "Apoorva Sagodharargal", "Idhaya Thamarai", "Gopura Vasalile" and "Meera". He became an independent cinematographer in Priyadarshan's Malayalam film "Abhimanyu" (1991) starring Mohanlal and went on to film over 20 films including his own directorials. He was director Shankar's usual cinematographer in his early films such as "Gentleman" (1993), "Kadhalan" (1994) and "Indian" (1996). Jeeva's work in Shankar's "Kadhalan" fetched him the Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Cinematographer. He had also collaborated several times with director Priyadarshan.


title: Jeeva (director)

text: The four completed films he directed, namely "12B" (2001), "Run" (Hindi version) (2004), "Ullam Ketkumae" (2005) and "Unnale Unnale" (2007), have become blockbusters (except for "Run"). He died after suffering acute cardiac arrest in Russia on 26 June 2007 at the age of 43. At the time of his death, he was busy with the final schedule of his latest film, "Dhaam Dhoom" (2008).


title: Jeeva (director)

text: Jeeva died in Saint Petersburg, Russia, following a cardiac arrest, while working on his movie "Dhaam Dhoom".


title: Harlan County War

text: The Harlan County War, or Bloody Harlan, was a series of coal industry skirmishes, executions, bombings and strikes (both attempted and realized) that took place in Harlan County, Kentucky, during the 1930s. The incidents involved coal miners and union organizers on one side and coal firms and law enforcement officials on the other. The Harlan County coal miners campaigned and fought to organize their workplaces and better their wages and working conditions. It was a nearly decade-long conflict, lasting from 1931 to 1939. Before its conclusion, an unknown number of miners, deputies and bosses would be killed, state and federal troops would occupy the county more than half a dozen times, two acclaimed folk singers would emerge, union membership would oscillate wildly and workers in the nation's most anti-labor coal county would ultimately be represented by a union.


title: Harlan County War

text: On February 16, 1931, to maximize profits, the Harlan County Coal Operators' Association cut miners' wages by 10%. Reacting to the unrest created within Harlan's impoverished labor force, the United Mine Workers of America (UMW) attempted to organize the county's miners. Employees who were known by their bosses to be union members were fired and evicted from their company-owned homes. Before long, most of the remaining workforce had gone on strike in solidarity. Only three of Harlan's incorporated towns were not owned by mines, hungry and evicted workers and their families sought refuge in them, primarily in the town of Evarts. They found sympathy there with spurned politicians and business owners who wished to see the company stores vanish.


title: Harlan County War

text: At the peak of the first strike, 5,800 miners were idle and only 900 working. The strikebreakers were protected by private mine guards with full county deputy privileges, who were legally able to exercise their powers with impunity outside the walls of their employers. They operated under sheriff J. H. Blair, a man who made his allegiance to the mine owners clear, "I did all in my power to aid the operators ... there was no compromise when labor troubles swept the county and the 'Reds' came to Harlan County". The citizens of Harlan, for their part, lost any illusions they may have held about impartiality in law enforcement. Songwriter Florence Reece reported,


title: Harlan County War

text: Sheriff J. H. Blair and his men came to our house in search of Sam – that's my husband – he was one of the union leaders. I was home alone with our seven children. They ransacked the whole house and then kept watch outside, waiting to shoot Sam down when he came back. But he didn't come home that night. Afterward I tore a sheet from a calendar on the wall and wrote the words to 'Which Side Are You On?' to an old Baptist hymn, 'Lay the Lily Low'. My songs always goes to the underdog – to the worker. I'm one of them and I feel like I've got to be with them. There's no such thing as neutral. You have to be on one side or the other. Some people say, 'I don't take sides – I'm neutral.' There's no such thing. In your mind you're on one side or the other. In Harlan County there wasn't no neutral. If you wasn't a gun thug, you was a union man. You had to be.


title: Harlan County War

text: Strikers exchanged gunfire with private guards and local law enforcement; strikebreakers were set upon and beaten. The most violent attack by mine workers occurred on May 5, 1931 and became known as the Battle of Evarts. The miners lay in ambush for cars delivering materials to strikebreakers and shot at them. Three company men and one striker were killed in the exchange.


title: Harlan County War

text: The Kentucky National Guard was called in. The strikers expected protection but upon replacing deputized mine guards, the National Guard broke the picket lines instead. On May 24 a union rally was tear-gassed and Sheriff Blair rescinded county members' right to assemble. By June 17, the last mine had returned to work. No concessions were given by the mine operators and UMW membership plummeted.


title: Harlan County War

text: In the wake of the UMW failure, the Communist National Miners Union (NMU) made a brief play for Harlan County. Though most workers felt disillusioned with organized labor, the NMU's radical ideology gained some support, ten local lodges sprang up before the Harlan County NMU was officially chartered. The smaller but more passionate NMU made greater relief efforts than the UMW, opening several soup kitchens in the county. Their attempts at strikes, while weak in surrounding counties, were utter failures in Harlan, where only a fraction of the workforce walked out in 1931 and 1932. Several events broke the NMU's foothold, local labor organizers, many of them clergy, learned of the Communist leadership's animosity toward religion and denounced the organization, Young Communist League organizer Harry Simms was killed in Harlan and the American Red Cross and local charities, who had been unwilling to take sides in a labor dispute, began giving aid to blacklisted miners who were unemployable as the NMU's financial troubles necessitated the closing of its soup kitchens.


title: Harlan County War

text: Under the auspices of the National Industrial Recovery Act, which promoted the right to organize one's workplace and outlawed discrimination and firing based on union membership, approximately half of Harlan's coal mines, those in the Harlan County Coal Operators' Association, were run as open shops from October 27, 1933 – March 31, 1935. An open shop allows union membership but does not mandate it. Wages at these mines came into step with the rest of the nation. Despite headway by the unions, the battle for Harlan County between labor and capital continued. Sheriff Blair was voted out of office in 1933 and died in 1934, replaced by T. R. Middleton, a candidate who ran on a pro-union platform. The Kentucky National Guard was once again called in on December 8, 1934, requested by UMW organizers who had been threatened by bosses and deputies. The troops promptly escorted the union men to the county line. As national political support for the NIRA dwindled, capital gained the upper hand, and when the United States Supreme Court struck down the legislation's pro-union National Recovery Administration portion, shops with union presence in Harlan dwindled from eighteen to one.


title: Harlan County War

text: Where the NIRA had been toothless in Harlan, the Wagner Act of 1935 proved itself a far greater thorn in the side of Harlan County's mine operators. It outlawed yellow-dog contracts, company unions, blacklists and discrimination on basis of union activity, all tactics employed by coal companies. While coal interests across the nation fell into step with the new legislation in 1935, Harlan was as resistant to federal meddling as it had ever been. On July 7, a group of deputies, enraged at a public celebration of the Wagner Act, dispersed the crowd by beating several miners. The year 1935 proved to be turbulent, even for Harlan; troops were deployed to maintain order in the county three times. On September 29, troops were dispatched on behalf of the miners for the first time in the Harlan County War, the governor referring to the beatings and harassment at the hands of the mine guards as "the worst reign of terror in the history of the county." He protected the miners despite the fact that a bomb had killed Harlan County Attorney Elmon Middleton several weeks earlier.


title: Harlan County War

text: Author and activist Theodore Dreiser conducted an investigation under the auspices of the National Committee for the Defense of Political Prisoners (NCDPP) of the American Communist Party. With contributions by John dos Passos, Samuel Ornitz and others, Dreiser produced a report called "Harlan Miners Speak: Report on Terrorism in the Kentucky Coal Fields". The Dreiser Committee also discovered the labor folk singer Aunt Molly Jackson and her younger half-brother Jim Garland, putting them on a tour of 38 states to raise funds for the strikers. Florence Reece, wife of organizer Sam Reece, wrote the labor standard "Which Side Are You On?".


title: Harlan County War

text: California labor activist Caroline Decker first became involved in union activities during the Harlan County War, when she and her sister participated in relief activities for striking miners. The 1976 documentary film "Harlan County, USA", winner of the 1977 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature, focuses on similar labor violence of the 1970s but refers to the 1930s violence as context. (Florence Reece appears in the film.) The 2000 television movie "Harlan County War" starred Holly Hunter.


title: Sangam period

text: The Sangam period or age (, ), particularly referring to the third Sangam period, is the period of the history of ancient Tamil Nadu, Kerala and parts of Sri Lanka (then known as Tamilakam) spanning from c. 6th century BCE to c. 3rd century CE. It was named after the famous Sangam academies of poets and scholars centered in the city of Madurai.


title: Sangam period

text: The First Sangam to be located in "Then Madurai" under the patronage of 89 Pandya kings, during this period. It is said to have lasted for 4,440 years, and this would put the First Sangam between 9600 BCE to 5200 BCE.


title: Sangam period

text: In Old Tamil language, the term Tamilakam ("Tamiḻakam", "Purananuru" 168. 18) referred to the whole of the ancient Tamil-speaking area, corresponding roughly to the area known as southern India today, consisting of the territories of the present-day Indian states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, parts of Andhra Pradesh, parts of Karnataka and northern Sri Lanka also known as Eelam.


title: Sangam period

text: According to Tamil legends, there were three Sangam periods, namely Head Sangam, Middle Sangam and Last Sangam period. Historians use the term Sangam period to refer the last of these, with the first two being legendary. So it is also called Last Sangam period (), or Third Sangam period ().


title: Sangam period

text: The Sangam literature is thought to have been produced in three Sangam academies of each period. The evidence on the early history of the Tamil kingdoms consists of the epigraphs of the region, the Sangam literature, and archaeological data. The period between 600 BCE to 300 CE, Tamilakam was ruled by the three Tamil dynasties of Pandya, Chola and Chera, and a few independent chieftains, the Velir.


title: Sangam period

text: There is a wealth of sources detailing the history, socio-political environment and cultural practices of ancient Tamilakam, including volumes of literature and epigraphy.


title: Sangam period

text: The Sangam Tamils enjoyed a high degree of cultural life. Their interests in education, literature, music, dance, drama and festivals have been described in the Sangam literature.


title: Sangam period

text: The fourfold Vedic system of caste hierarchy did not exist during Sangam period. The society was organized by occupational groups living apart from each other. Arivar or sages were higher than the Brahmanas. There were aristocratic classes like Vellalar and Karalar, who were held in high esteem. Vanigar was considered a trading class and Ulavar was composed of peasants. The other classes included Avar (Eyinar) and Vedduvars or hunters and sheperds, padaiadchier (the armed men), Valaiyars (fishermen), and pulayars (scavengers). Thus the Tamilian people had their own class divisions instead of Brahmanical Vedic 4-fold divisions.


title: Sangam period

text: The Sangam religion was originally ancient Shaivism, which has remained predominant, especially the cults of Shiva and Murugan.


title: Catalepsy

text: Catalepsy (from Ancient Greek , , "seizing, grasping") is a nervous condition characterized by muscular rigidity and fixity of posture regardless of external stimuli, as well as decreased sensitivity to pain.


title: Catalepsy

text: Symptoms include a rigid body, rigid limbs, limbs staying in same position when moved (waxy flexibility), no response, loss of muscle control, and slowing down of bodily functions, such as breathing.


title: Catalepsy

text: Catalepsy is a symptom of certain nervous disorders or conditions such as Parkinson's disease and epilepsy. It is also a characteristic symptom of cocaine withdrawal, as well as one of the features of catatonia. It can be caused by schizophrenia treatment with anti-psychotics, such as haloperidol, and by the anesthetic ketamine. Protein kinase A has been suggested as a mediator of cataleptic behavior. Unsuggested waxy catalepsy, sometimes accompanied by spontaneous anesthesia, is seen as an indicator of hypnotic trance. Suggested or induced rigid catalepsy, of extended limbs or even the entire body, sometimes tested with heavy weights, has been a staple of stage hypnosis shows and even academic demonstrations of hypnotism since the late 18th century, as proof of extraordinary physical abilities possible in trance states. Such demonstrations have also been performed by Asian martial artists and attributed to the pneumatic vital energy known as "qi".


title: Catalepsy

text: Armand D'Angour suggests that reports (such as that recounted in Plato's Symposium) of Socrates, in about 429 BC, standing perfectly still for hours on end during the Athenian campaign against Potidaea while seemingly deep in thought, are 'too extreme to be considered wholly a matter of rational choice,' and that 'it is reasonable to suppose that it was the symptom of an underlying physiological or psychological condition', such as catalepsy.


title: Catalepsy

text: St. Teresa of Avila experienced a prolonged bout of catalepsy that began in 1539. This episode was precipitated by the stress she experienced at the Carmelite Convent of the Incarnation. Her legs became rigid, leaving her an invalid for three years. Teresa endured intermittent attacks of catalepsy from then on.


title: Catalepsy

text: In William Shakespeare's tragedy "Romeo and Juliet" the kindly Friar Laurence (in the course of a botched attempt to help the lovers) provides Juliet with a catalepsy-inducing potion so effective that Romeo tragically imagines his beloved's death-like trance to be actual death and poisons himself in despair just before she awakens from her stuporleading her to kill herself with his dagger upon discovering his suicide.


title: Catalepsy

text: In Alexandre Dumas, père's novel "The Count of Monte Cristo", the Abbé Faria has fits of catalepsy from time to time, before eventually dying from one.


title: Catalepsy

text: In Eugène Sue's "The Mysteries of Paris", the villain Jacques Ferrand experiences a fit described as cataleptic in his final confrontation with Rodolphe, blinded by lamplight and hallucinating with visions of his fantasized Cecily.


title: Catalepsy

text: In George Eliot's "Silas Marner", the main character Silas Marner frequently has cataleptic fits and seizures, which adds to his uncanny reputation as a wizard or 'cunning man' among the superstitious natives of his adopted village of Raveloe.


title: Catalepsy

text: In Arthur Conan Doyle's "The Adventure of the Resident Patient", a man feigns catalepsy to gain access to a neurologist's rooms; the doctor attempts to treat him with amyl nitrite.


title: Catalepsy

text: In Ford Madox Ford's "The Good Soldier", the protagonist Dowell experiences catalepsy following the death of his wife.


title: Catalepsy

text: In Robert A. Heinlein's "Stranger in a Strange Land", the main character Valentine Michael Smith is believed to have catalepsy when he is returned to Earth.


title: Catalepsy

text: In Edgar Allan Poe's "The Premature Burial", the narrator develops catalepsy. He fears being mistakenly declared dead and buried alive, and goes to great lengths to prevent this. In another of Poe's short stories, "The Fall of the House of Usher", Madeline Usher has catalepsy, and is buried alive by her unstable brother Roderick. Catalepsy is also depicted in "Berenice", thus becoming one of the recurrent themes in Poe's fiction.


title: Catalepsy

text: In Poppy Z. Brite's "Exquisite Corpse", the main characterComptom, a serial killer (recreation of Jeffery Dahmer's life story) facing a lifetime sentenceuses shamanistic techniques to induce catalepsy, and, convincingly appearing deceased, is able to escape prison.


title: Catalepsy

text: In Émile Zola's short story "La Mort d'Olivier Becaille" ("The Death of Olivier Becaille"), the title character is buried alive and notes that "I must have fallen into one of those cataleptic states that I had read of".


title: Catalepsy

text: In Sax Rohmer's Fu Manchu novels, Dr. Fu-Manchu has a serum that induces a state of catalepsy so extreme as to be indistinguishable from death.


title: Catalepsy

text: In Charles Dickens's novel "Bleak House", Mrs. Snagsby has violent spasms before becoming cataleptic and being carried upstairs like a grand piano.


title: Catalepsy

text: In Hegel's "Lectures on the History of Philosophy: Greek Philosophy to Plato", Hegel describes Socrates as having catalepsy caused by magnetic somnambulism when in deep meditation.


title: Catalepsy

text: In Charles Williams's novel "Many Dimensions", Sir Giles Tumulty says to Lord Arglay, the Chief Justice of England: "You are a louse-brained catalept, Arglay."


title: Catalepsy

text: In Philip K. Dick's novel "Now Wait for Last Year", Kathy Sweetscent becomes immobilized by withdrawal from JJ-180, an alien (and highly addictive) drug. "My God, Kathy thought as she stood gazing down at the record by her feet. I can't free myself; I'm going to remain here, and they'll find me like this and know something's terribly wrong. This is catalepsy!"


title: Catalepsy

text: In the second chapter of Álvares de Azevedo's "Noite na Taverna", character Solfieri rescues a woman who has catalepsy from inside a coffin.


title: Catalepsy

text: In Sheridan Le Fanu's novella "The Room in the Dragon Volant" a naïve young man falls foul of a criminal gang who employ a curious, bulbocapnine-like drug which induces catalepsyas a result of which he narrowly escapes premature burial.


title: Catalepsy

text: In the Ted Hughes poem titled "Conjuring in Heaven" from Crow (poetry), the eponymous character is left in a state of catalepsy.


title: Catalepsy

text: In the old time radio show "Suspense", the episode titled "Dead Ernest" recounts how a man with catalepsy is wrongly believed dead when he is struck by a car. (Episodes number 205, 1946, and number 244, 1947)


title: Catalepsy

text: In the movie Son of Dracula (1943, Universal Pictures), vampire hunter Professor Lazlo (J. Edward Bromberg) describes a vampire as being in a "cataleptic state" between sunrise and sunset, but practically "invincible" during the nighttime, to Dr. Harry Brewster( Frank Craven), as they look for answers to a number of strange situations involving Count Alucard (Lon Chaney Jr.).


title: Advance Auto Parts

text: Advance Auto Parts, Inc. (Advance) is an American automotive aftermarket parts provider. Headquartered in Raleigh, North Carolina, it serves both professional installer and do it yourself (DIY) customers. As of July 13, 2019, Advance operated 4,912 stores and 150 Worldpac branches in the United States and Canada. The Company also serves 1,250 independently owned Carquest branded stores across these locations in addition to Mexico, the Bahamas, Turks and Caicos and British Virgin Islands. The company retails various brand name, original equipment manufacturer (OEM) and private label automotive replacement parts, accessories, batteries and maintenance items for domestic and imported cars, vans, sport utility vehicles and light and heavy duty trucks.


title: Advance Auto Parts

text: In April 1932, Arthur Taubman purchased the Advance Stores from Pep Boys, with two stores in Roanoke, Virginia and one in Lynchburg, Virginia.


title: Advance Auto Parts

text: The first major expansion of Advance Auto Parts was in 1998 when the company acquired the remaining operations of Western Auto, an auto parts and general store retailer. Most of the Western Auto operations had been taken over by Sears, Roebuck and Co. in 1987.


title: Advance Auto Parts

text: In April 2001, Advance Auto Parts acquired Carport Auto Parts, a regional retail chain with 29 stores in Alabama and Mississippi. On November 28, Advance acquired Discount Auto Parts, Inc., a regional auto parts chain with 671 stores in Florida, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, and Louisiana. Upon completion of this merger, Advance Auto Parts became a publicly traded company, listed as a common stock on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol AAP. The year ended with 2,484 stores in 38 states.


title: Advance Auto Parts

text: In July 2002, Advance Auto Parts received bankruptcy court approval to acquire 57 Trak Auto stores in northern Virginia, Washington, DC, and eastern Maryland.


title: Advance Auto Parts

text: In December 2012, Advance Auto Parts acquired BWP Distributors, a Carquest franchise for the New England region that included the transfer of 124 company owned retail locations plus 2 distribution centers. The responsibility for 92 independently owned location that were service by BWP were transferred to General Parts, Inc., the largest Carquest franchise along with one distribution center for servicing those locations.


title: Advance Auto Parts

text: On October 16, 2013, Advance Auto Parts entered into a definitive agreement to acquire General Parts International, Inc. (GPI), a privately held distributor and supplier of equipment and aftermarket replacement products for commercial markets operating under the Carquest and WorldPac brands. The deal created the largest automotive aftermarket parts provider in North America.


title: Advance Auto Parts

text: General Parts International, with corporate headquarters in Raleigh, NC, has seen a significant rise in personnel since being acquired by Advance. Most of these added jobs are personnel from Roanoke, Minnesota or between the now redundant GPI positions being transferred to Raleigh.


title: Advance Auto Parts

text: On September 30, 2015, Starboard Value LP, an activist investment firm disclosed a 3.7 percent stake in Advance Auto Parts. Effective January 2, 2016, Darren Jackson elected to resign his position as CEO. On April 4, 2016, Advance announced Frito-Lay North America CEO Tom Greco would succeed Jackson as CEO. While Advance stock declined throughout 2016 and 2017, the stock has seen a strong recovery as the company's five-year transformation plan progresses. In 2018, Advance was the #4 top performing stock of the S&P 500 outperforming the aftermarket automotive parts industry by more than 30 percent.


title: Advance Auto Parts

text: In October 2018, Advance and Walmart announced a strategic omnichannel partnership that will create an automotive specialty store on Walmart.com.


title: Advance Auto Parts

text: In November 2018, Advance Auto Parts announced the relocation of its headquarters from Roanoke, Virginia to Raleigh, North Carolina. The state of North Carolina and Advance Auto Parts agreed on a $12 million incentive package for this relocation.


title: Advance Auto Parts

text: On December 23, 2019, it was announced that Advance Auto Parts would be purchasing the DieHard battery brand from Sears. The deal was a $200 million all cash deal. To promote the acquisition and availability of the brand at Advance and Carquest, Advance hired actor Bruce Willis to be part of a promotional film in-character as John McClane from the film "Die Hard", which was released during the 2020 holiday season.


title: Advance Auto Parts

text: In June 2021, Advance Auto Parts announced its purchase of Baxter Auto Parts, a chain with 29 stores located in Oregon, Washington, and California. The stores joined the Carquest brand that serves as Advance Auto Parts' brand in the Pacific states.


title: Advance Auto Parts

text: From 2009 to 2013, Advance Auto Parts was a title sponsor of Monster Jam and sponsored a truck on the circuit called the Advance Auto Parts Grinder.


title: Advance Auto Parts

text: Advance Auto Parts has also served as a sponsor in NASCAR, where it is the official auto parts retailer of the sanctioning body. In 2017, the company sponsored the Advance Auto Parts Clash exhibition race at Daytona International Speedway, while it became the title sponsor of the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series in 2020. Advance Auto Parts has also partnered with individual teams, such as appearing on Alex Bowman's cars in 2015 and 2016 with Tommy Baldwin Racing and JR Motorsports, respectively.


title: Advance Auto Parts

text: In December 2016, it was announced that Advance would be the primary sponsor of NHRA Funny Car driver Courtney Force, the winningest female Funny Car driver in the history. The multi-year sponsorship began with the 2017 Circle K NHRA Winternationals in Pomona, California, and ran through the entire 2017 and 2018 seasons. Courtney Force announced she was stepping away from drag racing in January 2019 and later it was announced that her sister, Brittany Force, and her Top Fuel dragster would be sponsored by Advance for the 2019 NHRA season.


title: Advance Auto Parts

text: Today sponsorships include Team Penske with driver Ryan Blaney in NASCAR and Josh Hart (racer), representing Advance's TechNet Professional brand in the Top Fuel class of NHRA.


title: Advance Auto Parts

text: As of 2018, Advance Auto Parts shares are mainly held by institutional investors like The Vanguard Group, BlackRock, State Street Corporation, and others.


title: Advance Auto Parts

text: Advance premiered on the Fortune 500 list of companies in 2003 at No. 466 and has remained on the list since that time, including ranking No. 326 on the 2019 list.


title: Advance Auto Parts

text: As of June 2014, it was ranked at No. 1,412 on the "Forbes" "World's Biggest Public Companies" list. Soon after, Advance Auto Parts was bumped to 2nd largest automotive aftermarket retailer by competitor, AutoZone, and has held that that position as of July 2018.


title: Advance Auto Parts

text: In January 2005, Advance was named the “Best Managed Company in America” in the retail sector by "Forbes" magazine. This recognition was part of the annual Forbes Platinum 400 list of top-performing big corporations. The best-managed companies are those businesses that top the rankings in 26 different industries.


title: Sodium bisulfate

text: Sodium bisulfate, also known as sodium hydrogen sulfate, is the sodium salt of the bisulfate anion, with the molecular formula NaHSO. Sodium bisulfate is an acid salt formed by partial neutralization of sulfuric acid by an equivalent of sodium base, typically in the form of either sodium hydroxide (lye) or sodium chloride (table salt). It is a dry granular product that can be safely shipped and stored. The anhydrous form is hygroscopic. Solutions of sodium bisulfate are acidic, with a 1M solution having a pH of around 1.


title: Sodium bisulfate

text: Sodium bisulfate is produced as an intermediate in the Mannheim process, an industrial process involving the reaction of sodium chloride and sulfuric acid:


title: Sodium bisulfate

text: This step is highly exothermic. The liquid sodium bisulfate is sprayed and cooled so that it forms a solid bead. The hydrogen chloride gas is dissolved in water to produce hydrochloric acid as a useful coproduct of the reaction.


title: Sodium bisulfate

text: Although not of commercial interest, sodium bisulfate can be generated as a byproduct of the production of many other mineral acids via the reaction of their sodium salts with an excess of sulfuric acid:


title: Sodium bisulfate

text: The acids HX produced have a lower boiling point than the reactants and are separated from the reaction mixture by distillation.


title: Sodium bisulfate

text: Hydrated sodium bisulfate dehydrates at at which point it separates from the water molecule attached to it. Once cooled again, it is freshly hygroscopic. Heating sodium bisulfate to produces sodium pyrosulfate, another colorless salt:


title: Sodium bisulfate

text: Sodium bisulfate is used primarily to lower pH. it also is used in metal finishing, cleaning products, and to lower the pH of water for effective chlorination in swimming pools and hot tubs. Sodium bisulfate is also AAFCO approved as a general-use feed additive, including use in poultry feed and companion animal food. It is used as a urine acidifier to reduce urinary stones in cats.


title: Sodium bisulfate

text: It is highly toxic to certain echinoderms, but fairly harmless to most other life forms; so it is used in controlling outbreaks of crown-of-thorns starfish.


title: Sodium bisulfate

text: Sodium bisulfate was the primary active ingredient in the toilet bowl cleaners Vanish and Sani-Flush, both now discontinued.


title: Sodium bisulfate

text: In the textiles industry, it is sometimes applied to velvet cloth made with a silk backing and a pile of cellulose-based fiber (rayon, cotton, hemp, etc.) to create "burnout velvet": the sodium bisulfate, when applied to such a fabric and heated, causes the cellulose-based fibers to become brittle and flake away, leaving burned-out areas in the finished material, usually in attractive patterns.


title: Sodium bisulfate

text: Sodium bisulfate is the active ingredient in some granular poultry litter treatments used to control ammonia. Sodium bisulfate has also been shown to significantly reduce the concentration of Campylobacter and Salmonella in chicken houses.


title: Sodium bisulfate

text: Sodium Bisulfate is sometimes used as the active ingredient in flocculant tablets, a step in soil and water quality test kits.


title: Sodium bisulfate

text: Sodium bisulfate is used as a food additive to leaven cake mixes (make them rise) as well as being used in meat and poultry processing and most recently in browning prevention of fresh-cut produce. Sodium bisulfate is considered generally recognized as safe (GRAS) by the FDA and has been named to the EPA Safer Choice Safer Chemicals Ingredients List. The food-grade product also meets the requirements set out in the Food Chemicals Codex. It is denoted by E number E514ii in the EU and is also approved for use in Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and Mexico. where it is listed as additive 514. Food grade sodium bisulfate is used in a variety of food products, including beverages, dressings, sauces, and fillings. It has many synonyms including bisulfate of soda, sodium acid sulfate, mono sodium hydrogen sulfate, sodium hydrogen sulfate, sodium hydrosulfate, and sulfuric acid sodium salt (1:1).


title: Sodium bisulfate

text: Sodium bisulfate is considered natural by the Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA) since it is made from minerals. However, all commercially available sodium bisulfate is produced from sulfuric acid synthesized from elemental sulfur via the contact process.


title: Sodium bisulfate

text: Sodium bisulfate lowers the pH without creating a sour taste, and has been used in the place of citric, malic, or phosphoric acids that are commercially available, and it can also be used as an anti-browning agent.


title: Soft palate

text: The soft palate (also known as the velum, palatal velum, or muscular palate) is, in mammals, the soft tissue constituting the back of the roof of the mouth. The soft palate is part of the palate of the mouth; the other part is the hard palate. The soft palate is distinguished from the hard palate at the front of the mouth in that it does not contain bone.


title: Soft palate

text: The five muscles of the soft palate play important roles in swallowing and breathing. The muscles are:


title: Soft palate

text: These muscles are innervated by the pharyngeal plexus via the vagus nerve, with the exception of the tensor veli palatini. The tensor veli palatini is innervated by the mandibular division of the trigeminal nerve (V).


title: Soft palate

text: The soft palate is moveable, consisting of muscle fibers sheathed in mucous membrane. It is responsible for closing off the nasal passages during the act of swallowing, and also for closing off the airway. During sneezing, it protects the nasal passage by diverting a portion of the excreted substance to the mouth.


title: Soft palate

text: In humans, the uvula hangs from the end of the soft palate. Touching the uvula or the end of the soft palate evokes a strong gag reflex in most people.


title: Soft palate

text: A speech sound made with the middle part of the tongue (dorsum) touching the soft palate is known as a velar consonant.