title: Sailors' superstitions

text: Traditionally, a type of kobold, called a Klabautermann, lives aboard ships and helps sailors and fishermen on the Baltic and North Sea in their duties. He is a merry and diligent creature, with an expert understanding of most watercraft, and an irrepressible musical talent. He also rescues sailors washed overboard. The name comes from the Low German verb "klabastern" meaning "rumble" or "make a noise". An etymology deriving the name from the verb "kalfatern" ("to caulk") has also been suggested. A carved klabautermann image, of a small sailor dressed in yellow with a tobacco pipe and woollen sailor's cap, often carrying a caulking hammer, is attached to the mast as a symbol of good luck. However, despite the positive attributes, there is one omen associated with his presence: no member of a ship blessed by his presence shall ever set eyes on him; he only ever becomes visible to the crew of a doomed ship. The belief in Klabautermänner dates to at least the 1770s.


title: Sailors' superstitions

text: Sailors have had several patron saints. According to his hagiography, Saint Nicholas calmed a storm by prayer. Brendan the Navigator is also considered a patron saint of sailors and navigators, due to his mythical voyage to St. Brendan’s Island. Erasmus of Formiae, also known as Saint Elmo, may have become the patron of sailors because he is said to have continued preaching even after a thunderbolt struck the ground beside him. This prompted sailors, who were in danger from sudden storms and lightning, to claim his prayers. The electrical discharges at the mastheads of ships were read as a sign of his protection and came to be called "Saint Elmo's Fire". Thus, Saint Elmo's Fire was usually good luck in traditional sailor's lore, but because it is a sign of electricity in the air and interferes with compass readings, sailors sometimes regarded it as an omen of bad luck and stormy weather. The mariner's cross, also referred to as "St. Clement's Cross", is worn by many sailors to bring blessings.


title: Sailors' superstitions

text: Mermaids usually are considered lucky, but not universally. In Trinidad and Tobago, sea-dwelling mer-men "were known to grant a wish, transform mediocrity into genius and confer wealth and power."


title: Sailors' superstitions

text: Mermaids appear in British folklore as unlucky omens, both foretelling disaster and provoking it. Several variants of the ballad "Sir Patrick Spens" depict a mermaid speaking to the doomed ships. In some versions, she tells them they will never see land again; in others, she claims they are near shore, which they are wise enough to know means the same thing. Mermaids can also be a sign of approaching rough weather, and some have been described as monstrous in size, up to .


title: Sailors' superstitions

text: Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale "The Little Mermaid" was published in 1837. The story was adapted into a Disney film with a bowdlerized plot. In the original version, The Little Mermaid is the youngest daughter of a sea king who lives at the bottom of the sea. To pursue a prince with whom she has fallen in love, the mermaid gets a sea witch to give her legs and agrees to give up her tongue in return. Though she is found on the beach by the prince, he marries another. Told she must stab the prince in the heart to return to her sisters, she can't do it out of love for him. She then rises from the ocean and sees ethereal beings around her who explain that mermaids who do good deeds become daughters of the air, and after 300 years of good service they can earn a human soul. A world-famous statue of the Little Mermaid, based on Andersen's fairy tale, has been in Copenhagen, Denmark since August 1913, with copies in 13 other locations around the world.


title: Sailors' superstitions

text: Davy Jones is a popular character in sailor's lore, especially of the gothic fictional variety. Davy Jones' Locker is an idiom for the bottom of the sea: the state of death among drowned sailors. It is used as a euphemism for death or burial at sea (to be "sent to Davy Jones' Locker"). The origins of the name are unclear, and many theories have been put forth, including an actual David Jones, who was a pirate on the Indian Ocean in the 1630s; a pub owner who kidnapped sailors and then dumped them onto any passing ship; the incompetent Duffer Jones, a notoriously myopic sailor who often found himself over-board; or that Davy Jones is another name for Satan; or "Devil Jonah", the biblical Jonah who became the "evil angel" of all sailors, who would identify more with the beset-upon ship-mates of Jonah than with the unfortunate man himself. Upon death, a wicked sailor's body supposedly went to Davy Jones' locker (a chest, as lockers were back then), but a pious sailor's soul went to Fiddler's Green. This nautical superstition was popularized in the 19th century.


title: Sailors' superstitions

text: In relation to language and cultural practices, such sailors' superstitions are the consequence of folkloric practices or traditions whose meanings were once important signifiers, but now are lost to most modern sailors and laypersons alike.


title: Sailors' superstitions

text: Sailor tattoos are a visual way to preserve the culture of the maritime superstitions. Sailors believed that certain symbols and talismans would help them in facing certain events in life; they thought that those symbols would attract good luck or bad luck in the worst of the cases:


title: Sailors' superstitions

text: For example, the images of a pig and a hen were good luck; most of the smaller livestock aboard ships would float in their wooden crates and would be among the only survivors of wrecks, so these images were believed to help them survive a wreck. Another example of superstitions is the North Star (nautical star or compass rose); sailors had the belief that by wearing this symbol it would help them to find his or her way home. Sailors designed mariner motifs of their own, according to their travel experiences in the ocean.


title: Sailors' superstitions

text: The anchor is commonly used in sailor tattoos, which were supposed to prevent a sailor from floating away from the ship, should he fall overboard. The words 'HOLD FAST' tattooed on the knuckles would prevent a sailor from falling from aloft.


title: Sailors' superstitions

text: The Line-crossing ceremony commemorates a sailor's first crossing of the Equator. Its practices invoke good luck on the new sailor. The ceremony of Crossing the Line is an initiation rite in the Royal Navy, Royal Canadian Navy, U.S. Navy, U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Marine Corps, and other navies that commemorates a sailor's first crossing of the Equator. The tradition may have originated with ceremonies when passing headlands, and become a "folly" sanctioned as a boost to morale, or have been created as a test for seasoned sailors to ensure their new shipmates were capable of handling long rough times at sea. Sailors who have already crossed the Equator are nicknamed (Trusty) "Shellbacks", often referred to as "Sons of Neptune"; those who have not are nicknamed (Slimy) "Pollywogs" (in 1832 the nickname "griffins" was noted ).


title: Sailors' superstitions

text: After crossing the line, Pollywogs receive subpoenas to appear before "King Neptune and his court" (usually including his first assistant Davy Jones and her Highness Amphitrite and often various dignitaries, who are all represented by the highest ranking seamen), who officiate at the ceremony, which is often preceded by a beauty contest of men dressing up as women. Afterwards, some "wogs" may be "interrogated" by King Neptune and his entourage. During the ceremony, the Pollywogs undergo a number of increasingly embarrassing ordeals (such as wearing clothing inside out and backwards; crawling on hands and knees; being swatted with short lengths of firehose; kissing the Royal Baby's belly coated with axle grease, etc.), largely for the entertainment of the Shellbacks. Once the ceremony is complete, a Pollywog receives a certificate declaring his new status.


title: Sailors' superstitions

text: U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt described his Crossing the Line ceremony aboard the "Happy Ship" "USS Indianapolis" with his "Jolly Companions" in a letter to his wife Eleanor Roosevelt on 26 November 1936:


title: Sailors' superstitions

text: The phrase "over a barrel", meaning to be in a dilemma or "a weak or difficult position", may refer to the first aid practice amongst sailors of placing a drowning victim's head over a barrel, and rolling his body over it, in an attempt to remove aspirated water from the person's lungs. However, this etymology is challenged, and may come instead from the custom of punishing a prisoner by flogging or paddling him while he is strapped to a barrel; there is no documentary evidence it was actually used specifically as a nautical phrase. Either way, the image created in the mind is that of total helplessness and loss of control, which is a common anxiety of sailors in fear of corporal punishment.


title: Sailors' superstitions

text: Many theories have formed as to explain these phenomena and why they exist. Jakob Jakobsen theorised that such practices existed with the intent to confuse and ward off fairies and protect the sailors. Lockwood concurred as well with the general line of thought and concluded it was also done so as to not summon dangerous animals such as whales or ravens. Solheim follows this same line of thought and considers it also be done to protect loved ones back on land from such animals and spirits. Bairbre Ní Fhloinn critiques this line of thought concluding it to be reductionist and insulting to the intelligence of fishermen however she does admit it may be a factor.


title: Hime cut

text: The is a hairstyle consisting of straight, usually cheek-length sidelocks and frontal fringe. The rest of the hair is usually worn long and straightened. The style is thought to have originated, or at least become common, in the Imperial court during the Heian period (794–1185 CE) of Japanese history, when noble women would sometimes grow out their hair for their entire lives.


title: Hime cut

text: According to Professor Tomita of Yamano College of Aesthetics, the cut originated from the hairstyles of noblewomen in the Heian period in Japan. Noblewomen in the Heian period had their hair styled in the and styles. When a woman reached the age of 16, the hair around her ears would be cut shorter than the rest of her hair in a ceremony called , resulting in short forelocks at the front and long hair at the back. In the Edo period, this ceremony was held on June 16 at the age of 16, and a woman's fiancee or her father or brother cut her hair.


title: Hime cut

text: Though not known as the cut at the time, the name " cut" seems to have been retroactively applied in association with princesses of the Heian aristocracy, due to their depiction in media with the hairstyle.


title: Hime cut

text: The cut is high maintenance for those without naturally straight hair, and requires frequent touch-ups on the sidelocks and front bangs in order to maintain its shape. Hair straightening is sometimes used to achieve the hairstyle's straight appearance, as well as straightening irons and specially formulated shampoos for straight hair. Humidity is also cited as a problem with certain hair types, as the curling caused by excess humidity can change the shape of the hair. Occasionally, hair extensions are used for the side locks in order to prevent this.


title: Hime cut

text: The hairstyle is frequently seen in Lolita fashion, especially the classification of Gothic Lolita. Within the Lolita community, the cut is considered a more elegant alternative to other styles that may require frequent curling and crimping that can permanently damage the hair.


title: Franc

text: The franc is any of various units of currency. One franc is typically divided into 100 centimes. The name is said to derive from the Latin inscription "francorum rex" (King of the Franks) used on early French coins and until the 18th century, or from the French "franc", meaning "frank" (and "free" in certain contexts, such as "coup franc", "free kick").


title: Franc

text: The countries that use francs today include Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and most of Francophone Africa. The Swiss franc is a major world currency today due to the prominence of Swiss financial institutions.


title: Franc

text: Before the introduction of the euro in 1999, francs were also used in France, Belgium and Luxembourg, while Andorra and Monaco accepted the French franc as legal tender (Monégasque franc). The franc was also used within the French Empire's colonies, including Algeria and Cambodia. The franc is sometimes Italianised or Hispanicised as the "franco", for instance in Luccan franco.


title: Franc

text: The franc was originally a French gold coin of 3.87 g minted in 1360 on the occasion of the release of King John II ("the Good"), held by the English since his capture at the Battle of Poitiers four years earlier. It was equivalent to one "livre tournois" (Tours pound).


title: Franc

text: The French franc was originally a gold coin issued in France from 1360 until 1380, then a silver coin issued between 1575 and 1641. The franc finally became the national currency from 1795 until 1999 (franc coins and notes were legal tender until 2002). Though abolished as a legal coin by King Louis XIII in 1641 in favor of the gold louis and silver écu, the term franc continued to be used in common parlance for the livre tournois. The franc was also minted for many of the former French colonies, such as Morocco, Algeria, French West Africa, and others. Today, after independence, many of these countries continue to use the franc as their standard denomination.


title: Franc

text: The value of the French franc was locked to the euro at 1 euro = 6.55957 FRF on 31 December 1998, and after the introduction of the euro notes and coins, ceased to be legal tender after 28 February 2002, although they were still exchangeable at banks until 19 February 2012.


title: Franc

text: Fourteen African countries use the franc CFA (in west Africa, "Communauté financière africaine"; in equatorial Africa, "Coopération financière en Afrique centrale"), originally (1945) worth 1.7 French francs and then from 1948, 2 francs (from 1960: 0.02 new franc) but after January 1994 worth only 0.01 French franc. Therefore, from January 1999, 1 CFA franc is equivalent to €0.00152449. On 22 December 2019, it was announced that the CFA franc would be replaced in 2020 by an independent currency to be called Eco.


title: Franc

text: A separate (franc CFP) circulates in France's Pacific territories, worth €0.0084 (formerly 0.055 French franc).


title: Franc

text: In 1981, The Comoros established an arrangement with the French government similar to that of the CFA franc. Originally, 50 Comorian francs were worth 1 French franc. In January 1994, the rate was changed to 75 Comorian francs to the French franc. Since 1999, the currency has been pegged to the euro.


title: Franc

text: The conquest of most of western Europe by Revolutionary and Napoleonic France led to the franc's wide circulation. Following independence from the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the new Kingdom of Belgium in 1832 adopted its own Belgian franc, equivalent to the French one, followed by Luxembourg adopting the Luxembourgish franc in 1848 and Switzerland in 1850. Newly unified Italy adopted the lira on a similar basis in 1862.


title: Franc

text: In 1865, France, Belgium, Switzerland and Italy created the Latin Monetary Union (to be joined by Spain and Greece in 1868): each would possess a national currency unit (franc, lira, peseta, drachma) worth 4.5 g of silver or of gold (fine), all freely exchangeable at a rate of 1:1. In the 1870s the gold value was made the fixed standard, a situation which was to continue until 1914.


title: Franc

text: In 1926 Belgium as well as France experienced depreciation and an abrupt collapse of confidence, leading to the introduction of a new gold currency for international transactions, the "belga" of 5 francs, and the country's withdrawal from the monetary union, which ceased to exist at the end of the year. The 1921 monetary union of Belgium and Luxembourg survived, however, forming the basis for full economic union in 1932.


title: Franc

text: Like the French franc, the Belgo-Luxemburgish franc ceased to exist on 1 January 1999, when it became fixed at 1 EUR = 40.3399 BEF/LUF, thus a franc was worth €0.024789. Old franc coins and notes lost their legal tender status on 28 February 2002.


title: Franc

text: 1 Luxembourgish franc was equal to 1 Belgian franc. Belgian francs were legal tender inside Luxembourg, and Luxembourgish francs were legal tender in the whole of Belgium. (In reality, Luxembourgish francs were only accepted as means of payment by shops and businesses in the Belgian province of Luxembourg adjacent to the independent Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, this for historical reasons.)


title: Franc

text: The equivalent name of the Belgian franc in Dutch, Belgium's other official language, was "Belgische Frank". As mentioned before, in Luxembourg the franc was called "Frang" (plural "Frangen").


title: Franc

text: The Swiss franc (ISO code: CHF or 756), which appreciated significantly against the new European currency from April to September 2000, remains one of the world's strongest currencies, worth today around five-sixths of a euro. The Swiss franc is used in Switzerland and in Liechtenstein. Liechtenstein retains the ability to mint its own currency, the Liechtenstein franc, which it does from time to time for commemorative or emergency purposes.


title: Franc

text: The name of the country "Swiss Confederation" is found on some of the coins in Latin ("Confoederatio Helvetica"), as Switzerland has four official languages, all of which are used on the notes. The denomination is abbreviated "Fr." on the coins which is the abbreviation in all four languages.


title: Franc

text: The Saar franc, linked at par to the French franc, was introduced in the Saar Protectorate in 1948. On 1 January 1957, the territory joined the Federal Republic of Germany, nevertheless, in its new member state of Saarland, the Saar franc continued to be the currency until 6 July 1959.


title: Franc

text: The name of the Saar franc in German, the main official language in the Protectorate, was "Franken". Coins displaying German inscriptions and the coat of arms of the Protectorate were circulated and used together with French francs. As banknotes, only French franc bills existed.


title: Ernakulam district

text: Ernakulam, ; ISO: "Eṟaṇākuḷaṁ", in Malayalam: എറണാകുളം), is one of the 14 districts in the Indian state of Kerala, that takes its name from the eponymous city division in Kochi. It is situated in the central part of the state, spans an area of about , and is home to over 9% of Kerala's population. Its headquarters are located at Kakkanad. The district includes Kochi, also known as the commercial capital of Kerala, which is famous for its ancient Churches, Hindu temples, synagogues and mosques. The district includes the largest metropolitan region of the state: Greater Cochin. Ernakulam is the district that yields the most revenue and the largest number of industries in the state. Ernakulam is the third most populous district in Kerala, after Malappuram and Thiruvananthapuram (out of 14 districts). The district also hosts the highest number of international and domestic tourists in Kerala state.


title: Ernakulam district

text: The most commonly spoken language in Ernakulam is Malayalam. English is widely used, mostly in business circles. Ernakulam became India's first district to have 100 percent banking or full "meaningful financial inclusion" in 2012.


title: Ernakulam district

text: Ernakulam has a high Human Development Index of 0.801 (UNHDP report 2005), which is one of the highest in India.


title: Ernakulam district

text: Ernakulam has played a part in the political history of south India since ancient times. The Jews, Syrians, Arabs, Chinese, Dutch, British, and Portuguese seafarers followed the sea route to the Kingdom of Cochin and left their impressions on the town. The port at Kozhikode held superior economic and political position in medieval Kerala coast, while Kannur, Kollam, and Kochi, were commercially important secondary ports, where the traders from various parts of the world would gather. In 1664, the municipality of Fort Kochi was established by Dutch Malabar, making it the first municipality in Indian subcontinent, which got dissolved when the Dutch authority got weaker in 18th century. In 1896, the Maharaja of Cochin initiated local administration by forming a town council in Ernakulam. Initially, The district's headquarters were located in the portion of the city known as Ernakulam, which gave the district its name; the headquarters was relocated afterwards to Kakkanad.


title: Ernakulam district

text: In the year 1998, Kuttampuzha village was added to the district from Idukki district following which the district got a political boundary with neighbouring state of Tamil Nadu. There is no interstate road that connects the district with the neighbouring state through this border.


title: Ernakulam district

text: The Ernakulam district covers an area of on the Western Coastal Plains of India. It is surrounded by the Thrissur District to the north, the Idukki District to the east, Alappuzha and Kottayam districts to the south and the Laccadive Sea to the west. The Anamalais occupy a large part of the district, consisting of the forest areas around Pooyamkutty and the Idamalayar Dam. The range also extends into Thrissur, Palakkad, and Idukki districts, as well as Coimbatore and Tiruppur districts of Tamil Nadu. The district is divided geographically into highland, midland, and coastal area. The altitude of the highlands is about . The Periyar River, Kerala's longest, flows through all the taluks except Muvattupuzha. The Muvattupuzha River and a branch of the Chalakkudy River also flow through the district. The average yearly rainfall in the district is . The district has a moderate climate and mostly falls within the Malabar Coast moist forests ecoregion, while the highlands are part of the South Western Ghats moist deciduous forests ecoregion. The Anamudi is the tallest peak in South India, on the border of Ernakulam and Idukki districts. Some parts of the Idamalayar Reserve Forest and Mankulam Forest Division have Sholas but these parts are inaccessible by road. Ernakulam district does not have a border with Tamil Nadu in some maps the district is shown incorrectly by adding areas of Idukki (which share border with Tamil nadu) as regions of Ernakulam. The Idamalayar Reserve Forest, and Edamalakkudy. Many types of sand, soil, and rocks are abundant here. Cochin International Airport is located in the northern part of the district at Nedumbassery, Kochi.


title: Ernakulam district

text: The district houses two Urban Agglomerations, Kochi and Kothamangalam. Kochi is the largest city in the state, and 17th most populous in the country according to the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs rankings based on the 2011 Census, with an area of over 843km2 and 2.12 million population.


title: Ernakulam district

text: The district is divided into three parts: lowland, midland, and the highland that consist of seaboard, plains, and hills and forests respectively. 20 percent of the total area are lowlands. The forests in the eastern part of the district are mostly remote, forming a part of the Anamalais. The highest peak is the Anamudi. The midland consists mainly of plain land and a group of islands that naturally drain water via backwaters and canals. The hilly or eastern portion is formed by a section of the Western Ghats. Muvattupuzha and Kothamangalam taluks, which were initially parts of the Kottayam district and constitute the highlands. Muvattupuzhayar and Periyar are the main rivers, of which the latter flows through Muvattupuzha, Aluva, Kunnathunad and Parur taluks. During the rainy season these rivers are full and heavy floods affect the low-lying areas on the banks, but in the summer season, they generally go dry and narrow. The Periyar is stretched over a length of .


title: Ernakulam district

text: The flora of this district is tropical. The heavy rainfall combined with moderate temperatures and fertile soil support abundant vegetation. Many of the common plants are found in the coastal area, which forms the lowland region. The midland region is occupied by coconut palms, paddy, tapioca, pepper, pineapple and pulses. The lower slopes of the highland region have teak and rubber.


title: Ernakulam district

text: Mangalavanam Bird Sanctuary is located at the centre of Kochi. It covers , supports many species of mangroves and is a nesting ground for a variety of migratory birds. The Managalavanam is called the "green lung of Kochi", considering its role in controlling the city's air pollution.


title: Ernakulam district

text: Thattekad Bird Sanctuary lies on the northern bank of the Periyar River and covers about . It was founded by ornithologist Salim Ali. The sanctuary is from Kochi. Birds found here include falcons, jungle fowl, water hens, and hornbills. The flora of this area consists mainly of plantations of teak, rosewood, and mahogany. Further on the road, Pooyamkutty forest of the Anamalais is reached.


title: Ernakulam district

text: Ernakulam district is the richest district in Kerala and is the biggest commercial centre in the state of Kerala. It contributes the most to the state exchequer in terms of GSVA and tax revenues. It has the highest literacy rate as well as the highest per capita income in the state, along with having the most number of commercialised banks, startups and large scale industries & MSMEs in the state.


title: Ernakulam district

text: Its M.G. Road is home to some of Kerala's most prestigious enterprises. Kochi is also the headquarters of some large companies like Federal Bank, Geojit, V-Guard, and Muthoot.


title: Ernakulam district

text: The sea along the entire coast of the district and its backwaters are the habitat of various kinds of fish that supply both marine and inland fisheries.


title: Ernakulam district

text: The eastern part of Ernakulam is primarily agrarian in nature. Rice is the principal crop cultivated in the wetlands. The district is the largest producer of nutmeg and pineapple in the state: more than 55% of pineapples produced in the state is cultivated in the district. Rubber is the most cultivated plantation crop in the district and the district is the second-largest producer of rubber in the state behind Kottayam. Other important crops cultivated in the district are tapioca, black pepper, areca nut, coconut, turmeric, banana, and plantain.


title: Ernakulam district

text: Ernakulam is the first district in India to have 100 percent literacy by 1990. In fact Kochi has the highest literacy rate for any city in the country with over 20 lakhs population. Pothanikkad is the first village in India that achieved 100 percent literacy according to state literacy programme is in this district.


title: Ernakulam district

text: There are three prominent universities in Ernakulam: Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit in Kalady, Cochin University of Science and Technology in Kalamassery, and Kerala University of Fisheries and Ocean Studies in Kochi. The district has the most number of educational institutions in the state; as of 2019, there are 476 fully high-tech schools in Ernakulam.


title: Ernakulam district

text: In 2017, Ernakulam district administration launched the Roshni project, which aims to provide Malayalam education to migrant children. It supported 1,265 migrant workers’ children from lower primary to high school.


title: Ernakulam district

text: The district has the most taluks in the state. The district is divided by two revenue divisions with seven taluks.


title: Ernakulam district

text: A criticism that has been centered around this fact is that despite municipalities like Aluva, Kalamassery, Thrikkakara, Maradu, Tripunithura and Eloor becoming assimilated into Kochi city, they still exist as individual municipalities instead of being under Kochi Corporation. Surprisingly the corporation has not amended its limits for over half a century, since 1967 to be precise. The corporation was the largest in area and population when it was formed, and all these regions were panchayaths back then. Instead of adding them to the corporation when these regions started developing due to the urban expansion of Kochi city, they were made into separate municipalities thus largely handicapping the corporation. Now the call to expand these outdated limits for a better unified administration for the entire city of Kochi is a strong public demand.


title: Ernakulam district

text: According to the 2018 Statistics Report, Ernakulam has a population of 3,427,659. The 2011 Census of India reports that the district is ranked 104th most populous in India out of 640. The district has a population density of . Its population growth rate in 2001–2011 was 5.69%. Ernakulam has a sex ratio of 1027 females for every 1000 males, and a literacy rate of 95.89%. Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes make up 8.18% and 0.50% of the population respectively.


title: Ernakulam district

text: Malayalam is the predominant language, spoken by 96.70% of the population. Other languages spoken in Kochi include Punjabi (the second-most spoken language) and Tamil.


title: Ernakulam district

text: This district is listed as the "most advanced" district in Kerala. It had a resident population of 3,105,798 as of 2001, excluding the commuters from neighbouring districts. The urban population is 68%.


title: Ernakulam district

text: According to the 2011 Census of India, Ernakulam District also houses the largest city (UA) in the state (17th largest in the country) - Kochi Urban Agglomeration. Kochi UA spans across 843km2 with a population of 2,119,724 (2.12 million), thereby housing approximately two thirds of the population of Ernakulam District. Government of Kerala have also marked Kochi UA as the only "first order UA" in the state, which has its influence spread across the entire state unlike the other smaller cities.


title: Ernakulam district

text: The district also houses another smaller urban agglomeration - Kothamangalam, which has an area of 81.42 km2 housing over 1,14, 639 people. The towns of Kothamangalam and Muvattupuzha form a major chunk of the Kothamangalam UA.


title: Ernakulam district

text: Hindus (46%) accounts for the largest community, followed by Christians (38%) (Latin Catholic, Syro-Malabar, Jacobites, Pentecostals and Malankara Orthodox) and Muslims (15.7%). A small population of Jains, Jews, and Sikhs reside in Kochi. Ernakulam once had a vibrant Jewish population, with several synagogues, known as the Malabar Jews who used to dominate the trade and commercial activities in the district. After the state of Israel was formed in 1945, the entire community made aliyah to Israel in the 1950's. Today they number 8000 in Israel but very few Jews remain in the district. After a direct flight service was established between Kochi and Tel Aviv they have retained ties with the state with annual visits and gatherings.


title: Ernakulam district

text: Ernakulam also has a significant Konkani Hindu population who migrated from Goa during the Goa Inquisition. There is a small Jain community in Ernakulam district, concentrated mainly in Kochi city. The Sikh community in Ernakulam is also concentrated mainly in Kochi. There are more than 25 Sikh families in Kochi and there is one gurdwara.


title: Ernakulam district

text: The Aluva Sivarathri festival at the Aluva Mahadeva Temple (situated on the banks of river Periyar) in Aluva attracts people from around the country.


title: Ernakulam district

text: St. Mary's Orthodox Syrian Cathedral, Piravom is believed to be founded in 405 A.D. and was the headquarters of Archdeacon and St Thomas until the 18th century.


title: Ernakulam district

text: Adi Shankaracharya was born in Kalady, which is considered to be a major pilgrimage centre for Hindus around the world.


title: Ernakulam district

text: Puthencruz is the regional seat of Syriac Orthodox Church in India, and is where Saint Thomas Syro-Malabar Catholic Church, Malayattoor is located.


title: Ernakulam district

text: The eight-day lent (Ettunombu) festival at St Mary's Jacobite Syrian Valiyapally, Thamarachal attracts many people from all over the state. St. George Orthodox Syrian Church at Kadamattam near Muvattupuzha is very old and was founded by Mar Abo Syrian Metropolitan in the 5th century A.D. He brought a cross from Persia, which is preserved in the church. The festival at the Latin church of Vallarpadam on 24 September attracts people belonging to all religions. The icon of Virgin Mary in this church is credited with many miracles. St. George's Syro-Malabar Catholic Forane Church, Edappally was founded in 593 A.D.


title: Ernakulam district

text: Important pilgrimage sites in Ernakulam are Koonan Kurish St George Orthodox Pilgrim church, Mattancherry; Vadakken Paravoor St Thomas Catholic Church, Malayattoor Pally; and Mor Thoman Jacobite Church, Kothamangalam; and Thrikkunnathu St Mary's Seminary Church, Aluva. The relics of Gregorios Abdul Jaleel are preserved at the St. Thomas Jacobite church North Paravur. Thousands of pilgrims from Kerala culminate on 27 April for the Dhukrono of the Saint. The Feast of Eldho Mor Baselios is celebrated in the tomb church Mor Thoman Church at Kothamangalam every year on 2 and 3 October. The Feast of Paulose Mar Athanasius on 26 January at Thrikkunnathu St Mary's Seminary Church, Aluva, where he is entombed, also attracts thousands.


title: Ernakulam district

text: Gheevarghese Mar Gregorios of Parumala, also known as Parumala Thirumeni, the first saint of Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church from India was born and brought up in Mulanthuruthy.


title: Ernakulam district

text: The three major national highways passing through Ernakulam are the Cochin-Mumbai Highway (NH 66), Salem-Kanyakumari (NH 47 part of NSEW corridor), and Cochin-Dhanushkodi highway (NH 49).


title: Ernakulam district

text: Ernakulam has 17 railway stations. The Ernakulam Junction, Ernakulam Town and Aluva are the major stations. The other stations are Angamaly, Thripunithura, Edapally, Mulamthuruthy, Cochin Harbour Terminus, Karakutty, Chowara, Kalamassery, Nettoor, Kumbalam, Mattancherry H., Chottanikkara road, and Piravom road. The rail routes travel via Thrissur, Kottayam, Cochin H.T., Alappuzha, and Vallarpadam. The Angamaly-Erumely Sabarimala route passes through the district. Kochi Metro runs in Kochi.


title: Ernakulam district

text: Ernakulam district has two airports: Naval airport in W.island (Old Cochin airport) and Cochin International Airport (CIAL). CIAL is the fourth largest airport in the country after Mumbai, Delhi, and Chennai, and serves International passengers.


title: Ernakulam district

text: Ernakulam lies in the flat delta region of the Periyar and Moovattupuzha rivers. Water transport is prominent in the district via rivers and lagoons.


title: American Gothic (1995 TV series)

text: American Gothic is an American horror series created by Shaun Cassidy. The show first aired on CBS on September 22, 1995, and was cancelled after a single season on July 11, 1996. The show received positive reviews and has been regarded as a cult classic.


title: American Gothic (1995 TV series)

text: The story takes place in the fictional town of Trinity, South Carolina, and revolves around Caleb Temple (Lucas Black) and the town's corrupt sheriff, Lucas Buck (Gary Cole). Though appearing affable and charismatic, Sheriff Buck is a murderous rapist whose power base is backed by apparent supernatural powers, which he generally uses to manipulate people to "fulfill their potential" and make life-changing choices (usually for evil).


title: American Gothic (1995 TV series)

text: Caleb Temple is a normal child whose paternity masks a horrific secret: Lucas Buck is his biological father, having raped his mother in front of Caleb's older sister Merlyn (Sarah Paulson). The horror of watching her mother being sexually assaulted caused Merlyn to become severely emotionally traumatized and withdrawn from the rest of the world, made even worse when her mother committed suicide after giving birth to Caleb.


title: American Gothic (1995 TV series)

text: During the pilot episode of the series, Sheriff Buck murders Merlyn in cold blood and manipulates Caleb's "father" (Sonny Shroyer) into committing suicide in order to eliminate Caleb's family and claim his biological son for his own. The newly arrived Dr. Crower (Jake Weber) begins to uncover the sheriff's role in the deaths of Merlyn and Merlyn's father and with help from Caleb's out-of-town cousin Gail Emory (Paige Turco), struggles to prevent Lucas from corrupting young Caleb. They are aided in part by Merlyn's ghost, who personally appears before Caleb throughout the series in order to try to keep him from Buck's corrupt grasp.


title: American Gothic (1995 TV series)

text: Note: The character of Dr. Billy Peale (John Mese) was a late addition to the series, intended to be a regular character to replace Dr. Matt Crower as a more formidable adversary to Lucas Buck. He was added to the opening credits in the episode "Doctor Death Takes a Holiday", in which Dr. Crower is written out. Producer Shaun Cassidy stated in interviews that Dr. Crower would have returned had the show been renewed for a second season.


title: American Gothic (1995 TV series)

text: CBS originally aired American Gothic in a differing sequence than the production order and omitted four episodes ("Potato Boy", "Ring of Fire", "Echo of Your Last Goodbye" and "Strangler") from its network broadcast. Subsequent, syndicated airings of the series included these four episodes.


title: American Gothic (1995 TV series)

text: Universal Studios released the complete series of American Gothic on DVD as a Region 1 NTSC double-sided 3-disc set in the United States (October 25, 2005) and as a Region 2 PAL single-sided 6-disc set in Europe (released March 20, 2006).


title: American Gothic (1995 TV series)

text: The Region 1 and Region 2 Discs have the episodes in the same order (by air date as opposed to producer's intended order). The only exception is the German boxset (released October 5, 2007 by "Koch Media Home Entertainment"), which features all episodes in the intended order on 7 DVDs. The orders are as follows:


title: Raffles Institution

text: Raffles Institution (RI) is an independent educational institution in Singapore. Founded in 1823, it is the oldest school in the country. It provides secondary education for boys only from Year 1 to Year 4, and pre-university education for both boys and girls in Year 5 and Year 6. Since 2007, RI and its affiliated school Raffles Girls' School have been offering the six-year Raffles Programme, which allows students to skip the Singapore-Cambridge GCE O-Level examinations and proceed to take the Singapore-Cambridge GCE A-Level examinations at the end of Year 6.


title: Raffles Institution

text: RI is notable for having produced 96 President's Scholars, three presidents, two prime ministers, four speakers of Parliament, several Cabinet ministers and Members of Parliament, as well as many chief executive officers of statutory boards, agencies and state-owned companies. Its alumni body, the Old Rafflesians Association (ORA), includes former Prime Ministers Lee Kuan Yew and Goh Chok Tong, as well as former Presidents Yusof Ishak, Benjamin Sheares and Wee Kim Wee.


title: Raffles Institution

text: RI has one of the highest admission rates to the elite universities of the world such as the Ivy League and Oxbridge. It had the highest number of admissions to the University of Cambridge, with 48 students receiving offers in the 2022 admissions cycle, while 52 were accepted for Oxford and Cambridge combined in 2021, and 77 in 2022 (2nd highest of all schools).


title: Raffles Institution

text: RI was founded by Stamford Raffles, who proposed the establishment of "the Institution" or "Singapore Institution" at a meeting he convened on 1 April 1823. Raffles wanted to establish a college for the people of Singapore since the founding of the colony, and wrote on 12 January 1823 that a site for a planned college had been selected. His intention was to provide education for the children of local leaders in the new British colony of Singapore as well as the company's employees and others who wished to learn the local languages. Another objective was to "collect the scattered literature and traditions of the country" so that the most important may be published and circulated. Raffles referred to the plan as his "last public act"; by setting up the Institution, he hoped it that it could, through its generations of alumni, serve as "the means of civilising and bettering the conditions of millions" beyond Singapore. Those involved in the plan for the Institution included Reverend Robert Morrison, Sophia Raffles, William Farquhar, and William Marsden. It was initially suggested that the Institution should merge with the Anglo-Chinese College founded by Morrison in Malacca, but this plan did not materialise. Raffles contributed S$2,000, secured a grant of S$4,000 from the British East India Company and, together with subscriptions from other individuals, raised funds totalling S$17,495 for the project. He drafted the curriculum, and set up the structure for the board of trustees that included William Wilberforce.


title: Raffles Institution

text: The original building of RI was sited on Bras Basah Road and it was designed by engineer Philip Jackson. Raffles laid the foundation stone of the building on 5 June 1823, a few days before he left Singapore for the last time on 9 June. No classes were held while the building was under construction, but the project stalled and the building was left unfinished for some time. Raffles' vision was also not shared by John Crawfurd, the British Resident of Singapore, who felt the scale of the project excessive, and that the government should focus its efforts on elementary education instead. In 1835, a group of European merchants raised money for the Raffles Monument Fund to commemorate Raffles' contribution to Singapore, and proposed that it should be used to complete the Institution. George Drumgoole Coleman was then hired to finish and extend the original building by Jackson.


title: Raffles Institution

text: On 1 August 1834, Reverend F. J. Darrah opened the Singapore Free School with 46 boys, which quickly grew to nearly 80. When the building for the Institution was completed in 1837, the school applied to occupy the building, a proposal the trustees of the Institution accepted. The Singapore Free School moved into the building in December 1837, and became the Institution Free School. It was, however, established as an elementary school rather than the college that Raffles had initially intended. Originally the school offered classes in Malay, Chinese and English, but the Malay classes soon closed in 1842 due to low enrolment, and it would eventually become an English-medium school. In May 1839, the first wing extension was completed, and the second at the end of 1841. In 1856, the Singapore Institution Free School was renamed Singapore Institution.


title: Raffles Institution

text: In the 1860s, the school gradually turned into a high school. In 1868, the school was renamed Raffles Institution in honour of its founder. The most significant headmasters of the period were J. B. Bayley and R. W. Hullett, who oversaw the transition and ran the school for a cumulative period of 50 years.


title: Raffles Institution

text: The school is Singapore's first institution to enrol girls, with 11 pupils accepted in 1844. In 1879, the girls' wing of the school was established as a separate but affiliated school, Raffles Girls' School.


title: Raffles Institution

text: In March 1972, the school moved to Grange Road. The old building was demolished and replaced by Raffles City Shopping Centre. The Bras Basah campus's library building is featured on the S$2 paper and polymer note in Singapore currency.


title: Raffles Institution

text: In 1984, RI became one of two schools selected by the Ministry of Education to pilot the Gifted Education Programme to cater to intellectually gifted students.


title: Raffles Institution

text: In 1990, the school moved again, this time from Grange Road to a new campus at Bishan, then a recently created new town.


title: Raffles Institution

text: In 1982, Raffles Junior College (RJC) was established at Paterson Road to take over the school's burgeoning pre-university enrolment. It subsequently moved to Mount Sinai Road in 1984.


title: Raffles Institution

text: In 2004, the six-year Raffles Programme was offered to Secondary 1 to 3 students. It allows RI students to skip the Singapore-Cambridge GCE Ordinary Level examinations, which students would previously sit for at the end of Year 4. Instead, they move on directly to RJC for Years 5 and 6 and sit for the Singapore-Cambridge GCE Advanced Level examinations at the end of Year 6. This frees up time which students would otherwise spend on preparing for the O Level examinations, allowing them to spend more time engaging in enrichment and co-curricular or passion-driven activities. The curriculum serves to "seek to nurture the best and brightest into men and women of scholarship who will be leaders of distinction, committed to excellence and service in the interest of the community and nation." This subsequently led to the merging of RI's GEP and Special/Express streams to form a single Raffles Programme stream, and the establishment of its in-house academic talent development programme, Raffles Academy, catering to exceptionally gifted students via subject-specific pullout classes from Year 3 onwards, in 2007.


title: Raffles Institution

text: In 2005, RJC, along with Hwa Chong Junior College, became one of the first junior colleges in Singapore to attain independent status. RJC moved to its new Bishan campus adjacent to RI at the start of the 2005 school year, after attaining independent status and becoming the first pre-university institution in Singapore to be awarded the School Excellence Award.


title: Raffles Institution

text: In 2009, RI and RJC re-integrated to form a single institution under the name "Raffles Institution" to facilitate the running of the Raffles Programme and better align processes and curriculum.


title: Raffles Institution

text: RI is a member of various academic partnerships and alliances, such as the G30 Schools and Winchester Network. It also co-founded the Global Alliance of Leading-Edge Schools.


title: Raffles Institution

text: The school motto - "Auspicium Melioris Aevi" - comes from the coat of arms of its founder, Stamford Raffles. The official translation by the school is "Hope of a Better Age".


title: Raffles Institution

text: The five houses, three of them named after former headmasters, are Bayley, Buckley, Hullett, Moor and Morrison, represented by the colours yellow, green, black, red and blue respectively.


title: Raffles Institution

text: Year 1 students are sorted into houses by class. In the early years of RI's history, there were ten houses, including a sixth Philips house (purple), later disbanded. House allocations used to be student-based, instead of class-based. Each House is led by a House Captain, a Year 4 student, who carries out his role along with the respective House Committee. The Houses participate in inter-house tournaments and activities, notably including the annual Inter-House Sports Carnival, Dramafeste and the Inter-House Debate tournament, with points earned from each activity contributing to the House Championship which is awarded at the end of the school year.


title: Raffles Institution

text: Students of the college section were divided into five Houses, the name of which is an amalgamation of its counterparts in RI and RGS:


title: Raffles Institution

text: The school uniform from Years 1 to 4 is all-white, including a white short-sleeved shirt with the school badge at the top-right corner of the shirt pocket. Lower secondary students (Years 1 and 2) wear white short trousers and white socks. From Year 3 onwards, students may continue in short pants or opt for white long trousers. Shoes are white-based for all students, with the exception of laces, which must be fully white. Year 3 and 4 prefects must wear formal black shoes, except for Physical Education lessons, where they are required to change into appropriate shoes. School ties are worn only for formal occasions. Teachers wear a formal gown for special occasions. The uniform for male students in Years 5 and 6 male are identical to the uniforms worn by students in Years 3 and 4. The uniform for female students in Years 5 and 6 consist of a white blouse and a dark green pleated skirt.


title: Raffles Institution

text: In his memoir "The Singapore Story", Lee Kuan Yew mentioned that he was caned by the headmaster D. W. McLeod for chronic tardiness when he attended RI in the 1930s. In 1956, a former RI prefect also wrote that during his time there, "boys were caned on their bottoms for even winking at the girls. We did have very good discipline in our time and the boys became good citizens, lawyers, doctors, etc."


title: Raffles Institution

text: Since 2007, the school has offered the six-year Integrated Programme, which allows students to bypass the Singapore-Cambridge GCE Ordinary Level examinations and take the Singapore-Cambridge GCE Advanced Level examinations at the end of Year 6. Known within the Raffles schools as the Raffles Programme, it is offered jointly with Raffles Girls' School.


title: Raffles Institution

text: The new intake of Year 1 students go through a 3-day orientation camp, involving understanding the school's culture and knowing the campus grounds, and various activities to facilitate class bonding, leadership development, etc. Year 4 Peer Support Leaders and the Head and Deputy head prefects guide them through this camp and the rest of the orientation period. At the end of the camp, the first-year students receive their school badges in the Junior Rafflesian Investiture Ceremony (JRIC), which occurs on the Friday of the Orientation Week.


title: Raffles Institution

text: The Raffles Leadership Programme is an initiative of the Leadership Development Department, aimed at preparing students to take on positions of leadership in school and in life. All Year 3 pupils go through the programme which includes going through the Leadership Challenge Workshop and taking the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator Instrument. It also features a one-term residential component at RI Boarding. The boarding programme started as a trial in 2008 and has now become a full-cohort programme.


title: Raffles Institution

text: Under the Raffles Leadership Programme, Year 3 pupils also get to take part in a ten-week residential programme in RI Boarding to learn about independent living skills. The boarding programme was shortened to a seven-week programme in 2019.


title: Raffles Institution

text: The Students' Council of the Years 5-6 section is divided into a total of eight departments, namely the Welfare Department, the Communications Department, the CCA Department and five House Directorates, which form the EXCO for each of the five houses. Each councillor also takes up one or two of the six functions, which are college events organised by the council: National Day, Teachers' Day, Grad Night, Open House, Orientation and Council Camp.


title: Raffles Institution

text: Members of the Students' Council are selected through a college-wide election process. Each batch undergoes a rigorous selection process, which culminates in the Council Investiture. The Students' Council is headed by a President, who is assisted by his/her executive committee consisting of two Vice-Presidents, two Secretaries, the three Heads of Departments and the five House Captains. As of May 2022, the school is served by the 42nd batch of Student Councillors.


title: Raffles Institution

text: RI offers about 40 co-curricular activities (CCAs), including sports, uniformed groups, performing arts, and clubs and societies.


title: Raffles Institution

text: CCAs are categorised as either core or merit CCAs. Core CCAs comprise all sports, uniformed groups and performing arts, as well as Raffles Debaters while merit CCAs consist of all other clubs and societies. Every student of the school takes up at least one core CCA. Merit CCAs are optional, but students are encouraged to take up at least one merit CCA to supplement their core CCA. Certain merit CCAs, such as the Infocomm Club, however, may substitute for a core CCA instead.


title: Raffles Institution

text: The school's sports teams and uniformed groups have earned top places in many national inter-school competitions, doing well in Red Cross Youth, rugby, National Cadet Corps, sailing, floorball, Boys' Brigade, and cross-country running, among others.


title: Raffles Institution

text: The performing arts groups have also done well in the Singapore Youth Festival, held once every two years, while the clubs and societies have also won awards.


title: Raffles Institution

text: The Year 5-6 section offers over 70 CCAs, including sports, performing arts, and clubs and societies. Unlike in the first four years of the Raffles Programme, no distinction is made between core and merit CCAs. Students may offer up to two CCAs, no more than one of which may be a sports or performing arts group.


title: Raffles Institution

text: Teams from RI performed well nationally in 2011, with the performing arts groups clinching 15 Golds (including nine with honours) and five Silvers at the biennial Singapore Youth Festival Central Judging and the sports teams winning 32 championship titles as well as 24 Silvers and 11 Bronzes at the National Interschools Sports Championships. The school's clubs and societies have also performed excellently in their various national competitions, with Raffles Debaters clinching championship titles and the History and Strategic Affairs Society clinching best school delegation awards at international Model United Nations conferences.


title: Raffles Institution

text: The college community is served by the Raffles Press, the school's journalism society, which publishes its flagship online student newspaper "Word of Mouth". The newspaper includes features, op-ed columns, sports reports and concert reviews. In addition, all staff and most students also receive a copy of the "Rafflesian Times", the school's official magazine, from the Communications Department.


title: Raffles Institution

text: The journalism society regularly publishes articles dealing with daily school life, recent assemblies and events as well as wider national issues including Singapore's golden jubilee (SG50) and the 2015 Southeast Asian haze.


title: Raffles Institution

text: In 2015, students from the school also started an unofficial satirical publication, "The Waffle Press", which pokes fun at school events and examinations.


title: Raffles Institution

text: Raffles Institution Boarding is housed in a boarding complex consisting of five blocks. These are named after the five Houses; Bayley, Buckley, Hullett, Moor and Morrison. Each block, apart from the new Hullett block, can accommodate 90 pupils. All blocks have their own staff, and the boarding complex is overseen by several Boarding Mentors.


title: Raffles Institution

text: The foundation stone of the Boarding Complex was laid by Lee Kuan Yew on 25 March 1994. The first batch of boarders moved into the Complex in 1996. During the upgrading works in 2006, the former Moor block was demolished to make way for a 13-storey twin tower hostel, the Hullett block, completed in July 2007, and the former Hullett block in turn renamed Moor. The three blocks of Buckley, Moor and Bayley houses boys enrolling in Raffles Leadership Programme, whereas Morrison block catered to girls previously.


title: Raffles Institution

text: The main building is the Yusof Ishak Block, comprising offices, staff rooms, lecture theatres, study areas and computer labs, as well the Main Atrium. It houses the Year 1-4 General Office and the Raffles Archives & Museum. Major upgrading works were completed in early 2007.


title: Raffles Institution

text: The Science Hub, opened in 2008, includes facilities for specialised research such as Xploratory-Labs; as well as Chemistry, Physics and Biology labs. It also houses the Discovery Labs, a Laser Animation/Technology Studio, the Materials Science Lab and the Raffles Academy Home Room. It is connected to the Yusof Ishak Block.


title: Raffles Institution

text: The Hullett Memorial Library (HML) stands between the Sheares Block and ArtSpace. Co-founded by Lim Boon Keng and Song Ong Siang, it was named after RI's longest-serving Headmaster, Richmond William Hullett, in 1923. The library's official founding (even though a library and museum, from which the National Museum originated, had existed for decades prior to 1923) also marked the centenary of the founding of the institution. The library traces its roots to the founding of RI, making it the oldest library in Singapore. The origins of Singapore's National Library lie in the HML.


title: Raffles Institution

text: The school's gymnasium underwent renovation in 2010, and was used as a training venue for gymnasts during the 2010 Summer Youth Olympics, together with that in the Year 5-6 campus. The school also has two tennis courts, two basketball courts, two squash courts, and two cricket nets.


title: Raffles Institution

text: Following the re-integration with Raffles Junior College from 2009, more sports facilities are available. Floorball, table tennis, judo and gymnastics are RI sports now able to use the Year 5-6 Campus facilities.


title: Wrong Turn 5: Bloodlines

text: Wrong Turn 5: Bloodlines (also known as Wrong Turn 5) is a 2012 American slasher film written and directed by Declan O'Brien. The film stars Camilla Arfwedson, Roxanne McKee and Doug Bradley. It is the fifth installment in the "Wrong Turn" film series, and is both a sequel to "" (2011), and a prequel to "Wrong Turn" (2003).


title: Wrong Turn 5: Bloodlines

text: In the city of Fairlake, Greenbrier County in West Virginia, the Hillickers—Three Finger, Saw Tooth, and One Eye start a murdering rampage with the help of serial killer Maynard Odets where they first murder news reporter, Kaleen Webber.


title: Wrong Turn 5: Bloodlines

text: Meanwhile, five friends, Billy, his girlfriend Cruz, Lita, her boyfriend Gus, and Julian, are going to Fairlake to celebrate the Mountain Man Music Festival for Halloween. Along the way, they almost run over Maynard, who attacks them. Billy, Gus, and Julian attack him out of self-defense but are all apprehended along with Lita and Cruz by town sheriff Angela Carter and her deputy partner Kevin Biggs. While Carter leaves to take them to the police station, the cannibals appear and kill Biggs. Locked up in the police station, Billy convinces Carter to release his friends as he owns his drugs, and they left as he remained in his cell.


title: Wrong Turn 5: Bloodlines

text: The cannibals use their truck to pull down a phone pole, taking out the service to the town. They then proceed to the power plant, killing a guard and shutting down the town's electricity. While most of the townspeople attend the festival, the teens register at a motel to stay while waiting for their friend to be released by his family's lawyer. Three Finger chases Cruz and kills her on her way to visit Billy. After Julian leaves the motel back to the police station, Gus is abducted by the cannibals while One Eye attempts to capture Lita, but she manages to escape.


title: Wrong Turn 5: Bloodlines

text: Carter sees the cannibals drop Gus, who had his legs crippled. She attempts to save him, but the cannibals run him over with their pick-up truck, killing him. Carter frees Billy and gives him, Julian, and prisoner Mose shotguns to guard the station. She sneaks into an appliance store to communicate with radio jockey Teddy asking him to call for backup, but he rudely dismisses her message as a joke. After Lita reaches the police station, Billy and Julian leave to search for Cruz despite Carter's objections. They wander the streets and find Cruz's dead body; while trying to get the body back to the station, they encounter the cannibals, who capture them and place them on a football pitch, where Three Finger kills both with a snowblower. Carter then sends Mose to search for the deputies, but he unknowingly runs over a barbed wire in the road and crashes. He awakens to find himself captured by the cannibals, who burn him alive. After hearing Mose's screams over the radio, Carter exits the station as Lita unwittingly releases Maynard, who stabs her eyes out. Carter finds her husband Jason bound in a car and tries to help him, but a sickle tied to the door guts his body as Three Finger fights the sheriff before overpowering and capturing her.


title: Wrong Turn 5: Bloodlines

text: Carter awakens in the jail cell with her hands tied to the ceiling. Maynard gives her the option of dying by fire or from a shotgun with the trigger near her feet. Carter eventually triggers the shotgun, killing herself as the cell burns down. Lita, unable to see, is captured by Maynard and the cannibals before being driven away into the woods, screaming.


title: Wrong Turn 5: Bloodlines

text: The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray on October 23, 2012. The Blu-ray edition is a two-disc set which includes a Blu-ray disc of the feature film, as well as a DVD/Digital Copy disc.


title: Melchora Aquino

text: Melchora Aquino de Ramos (January 6, 1812 – February 19, 1919) was a Filipino revolutionary. She became known as "Tandang Sora" because of her age during the Philippine Revolution.


title: Melchora Aquino

text: She was known as the "Grand Woman of the Revolution" and the "Mother of Balintawak" for her contributions.


title: Melchora Aquino

text: Known as the "Mother of Revolution," Tandang Sora was born on January 6, 1812 in Barrio Banlat, Caloocan (the present-day Barangay Tandang Sora, Quezon City).


title: Melchora Aquino

text: Tandang Sora, daughter of a peasant couple, Juan and Valentina Aquino, never attended school. However, she was apparently literate at an early age and talented as a singer and performed at local events as well as at Mass for her Church. She was also often chosen for the role of "Reyna Elena" during the "Santacruzan", a processional pageant commemorating Empress Helen's finding of the Cross of Christ, celebrated in the Philippines in May.


title: Melchora Aquino

text: Later in life, she married Fulgencio Ramos, a "cabeza de barrio" (village chief), and bore six children. Ramos died when their youngest child was seven and she was left as a single parent for their children. Tandang Sora continued her life as an "hermana mayor" active in celebrating "fiestas", baptisms, and weddings. She worked hard in order to give her children education.


title: Melchora Aquino

text: In her native town, Tandang Sora operated a store, which became a refuge for the sick and wounded revolutionaries. She fed, gave medical attention to and encouraged the revolutionaries with motherly advice and prayers.


title: Melchora Aquino

text: Secret meetings of the Katipuneros (revolutionaries) were also held at her house in August 1896. Thus she earned the names "Woman of Revolution", "Mother of Balintawak", "Mother of the Philippine Revolution", and "Tandang Sora" ("Tandang" is derived from the Tagalog word "matandâ", which means old). She and her son, Juan Ramos, were present in the Cry of Balintawak and were witnesses to the tearing up of the "cedulas".


title: Melchora Aquino

text: When the Spaniards learned about her activities and her knowledge to the whereabouts of the Katipuneros, she was arrested by the "guardia civil" on August 29, 1896. She was held captive in the house of a "cabeza de barangay" of Pasong Putik, Novaliches and then transferred to Bilibid Prison in Manila. While in prison, she was interrogated but she refused to divulge any information. She was then deported to Guam, Marianas Islands by Governor General Ramón Blanco on September 2. In Guam, she and a woman named Segunda Puentes were placed under house arrest in the residence of a Don Justo Dungca.


title: Melchora Aquino

text: After the United States took control of the Philippines in 1898, Tandang Sora, like other exiles, returned to the Philippines in 1903. She later became an active member of the Philippine Independent Church. She died at her daughter Saturnina's house in Banlat on February 19, 1919, at the age of 107. Her remains were first interred at the Mausoleum of the Veterans of the Revolution at the Manila North Cemetery. These were then transferred to the Himlayang Pilipino Memorial Park in Quezon City in 1970 and finally at the Tandang Sora National Shrine in 2012.


title: Melchora Aquino

text: As a token of gratitude, a Quezon City barangay and a road were named after Tandang Sora. Her profile was also placed in the Philippines' five-centavo coin from 1967-92. She was the first Filipina who appears on a Philippine peso banknote, in this case, a 100-peso bill from the English Series (1951–66). Tandang Sora Street in the city of San Francisco, California, USA, is named in her honor.


title: Melchora Aquino

text: In 2012, on the celebration of her 200th birthday, the Local Government of Quezon City decided to transfer Tandang Sora's remains from Himlayang Pilipino Memorial Park to the Tandang Sora National Shrine in Quezon City. The city government also declared 2012 to be Tandang Sora Year.


title: Melchora Aquino

text: Her descendants carry different surnames, with almost all living in Novaliches and Tandang Sora districts in Quezon City as well as in Guam such as Figueroa, Ramos (her husband’s surname), Geronimo, Eugenio, Cleofas and Apo.


title: Piper PA-18 Super Cub

text: The Piper PA-18 Super Cub is a two-seat, single-engine monoplane. Introduced in 1949 by Piper Aircraft, it was developed from the PA-11 Cub Special, and traces its lineage back through the J-3 Cub to the Taylor E-2 Cub of the 1930s. In close to 40 years of production, over 10,000 were built. Super Cubs are commonly found in roles such as bush flying, banner towing and glider towing.


title: Piper PA-18 Super Cub

text: While based on the design of the earlier Cubs, the addition of an electrical system, flaps (3 notches), and a considerably more powerful engine (150 hp), made it a very different flying experience. Although the "standard" Super Cub was fitted with a 150-horsepower (112 kW) Lycoming engine, it is not uncommon to see them equipped with a 160-horsepower O-320-B2B, or even 180 horsepower (134 kW) Lycoming O-360 powerplant. The high-lift wing and powerful engine made the Super Cub a prime candidate for conversion to either floatplane or skiplane. In addition, the PA-18A (an agricultural version) was produced for applying either dry chemical or liquid spray.


title: Piper PA-18 Super Cub

text: The Super Cub retained the basic "rag and tube" (fabric stretched over a steel tube frame) structure of the earlier J-3 Cub.


title: Piper PA-18 Super Cub

text: The first true "Super" Cubs had flaps, dual fuel tanks, and an O-235 Lycoming engine producing about 108 hp (115 hp for takeoff only). However, a 90 hp Continental variant without flaps and an optional second wing tank was available. Their empty weight was, on the average, 800–1000 pounds with a gross weight of 1,500 lb. These Cubs would take off in about 400 feet (at gross weight) and land in about 300 feet (thanks to the flaps). The Super Cub is renowned for its ability to take off and land in very short distances. The first Super Cubs were going to be offered with a unique four-wheel tandem main landing gear designed for landing and takeoff from rough terrain, but this was replaced with conventional landing gear. The O-290 Lycoming powered Cubs (135 hp) followed and would take off in about . The landing distance remained the same at about , or using flaps. With the use of the Lycoming O-320 at 150–160 hp, the Cub's allowable gross weight increased to 1,750 lb while retaining the capability of a mere required for takeoff.


title: Piper PA-18 Super Cub

text: The PA-18 has developed a very dedicated following in the bush-flying community, and many modifications have been developed for it, to the point where it is quite rare to find an original, completely stock Super Cub. Modifications include extended baggage compartments (reaching farther back into the fuselage, or even two-level baggage compartments in the top and bottom of the rear fuselage), external luggage pods, fuel pods, lumber racks for carrying construction materials into unimproved bush runways. Also the removal of header tanks, larger 24 or even 30 gallon wing fuel tanks, extended main landing gear for better ground clearance of the propeller, strengthened tailwheel springs, the addition of a small third passenger seat in the luggage area and lightweight generators and starters. Also various different mount areas for the battery (to move the weight forward, and reduce tail weight to shorten takeoff distance), various different tailfin shapes to increase surface area, lengthened flaps, various wingtip designs, vortex generators on the leading edge of the wings, movement of the electrical panel from the right wing root to the dashboard to reduce fire hazard during a crash, and even the addition of a constant-speed propeller.


title: Piper PA-18 Super Cub

text: Above all, the most common modification is the addition of "bush wheels" (themselves said to be direct descendants of Alvin Musselman's 1920s-origin "airwheel" tires used on the original Piper J-3), large, soft, low pressure balloon-tires designed to absorb impacts from rocks and boulders, and to not sink into sand or other soft surfaces, ideal for off-runway landings.


title: Fatburger

text: Fatburger North America Inc. (doing business as Fatburger) is an American fast casual restaurant chain. Its tagline is "The Last Great Hamburger Stand". While it is a fast food restaurant, the food is cooked and made to order. Some Fatburger restaurants have liquor licenses as well as "fat bars." Its franchise headquarters are in Beverly Hills, California. In addition to the United States, the chain operates in 19 other countries. The Fatburger menu is centered primarily on hamburgers, offering various sizes and numbers of patties, along with add-ons such as cheese, bacon and eggs.


title: Fatburger

text: Fatburger was founded by Lovie Yancey (1912–2008) in the neighborhood of Exposition Park in Los Angeles, California, in 1947. It was originally named "Mr. Fatburger" (on behalf of Yancey's boyfriend), until Yancey removed the "Mr." in 1952. At that time, she bought out her start-up partners and retained sole ownership of the Fatburger brand until 1990, keeping and operating the original store on Western Avenue along with the La Cienega Boulevard store (La Cienega/San Vicente).


title: Fatburger

text: Fatburger remained a mostly California-based chain until the late 1990s, when it began an expansion in North America. On August 15, 2003, Fog Cutter Capital Group completed a $7 million investment and financing package for the company. Fatburger operates or franchises over 150 Fatburger restaurants worldwide with over 300 more planned for future development. For several months in 2006, the company was barred from selling additional franchises in California, due to chairperson Wiederhorn's felony convictions.


title: Fatburger

text: In 1992, Fatburger gained national attention after being referenced in the hit song "It Was a Good Day" by rapper and actor Ice Cube. It was also referenced by The Notorious B.I.G. in the song "Going Back to Cali".


title: Fatburger

text: In 2008, Fatburger opened its first restaurant in a sports stadium, the Arizona Diamondbacks' Chase Field. Fatburger also opened its first location in Dubai, U.A.E., (today there are eight). There are also Fatburger eateries in Beijing, PR China.


title: Fatburger

text: In January 2013, Fatburger opened its first branch in Karachi, Pakistan. Owing to the success of the burgers and positive response in Pakistan, Fatburger opened its biggest flagship outlet globally in June 2013 in Lahore. In July 2015, a branch in Lahore was shut down by authorities due to health and food safety reasons.


title: Fatburger

text: Fatburger has locations in five western states in the United States and Canada, and new locations in China, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Malaysia, the United Kingdom, Fiji, Indonesia, Iraq (including Iraqi Kurdistan), India, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Tunisia, Macau, Pakistan, Oman, Panama, Singapore, Philippines, Qatar, and Japan. In some locations, menu changes were made to conform to local customs. It will expand into Texas, in cities like Austin, Dallas, Houston and San Antonio. In 2019, it was announced the first Texas location would be created in North Richland Hills.


title: Fatburger

text: Former professional basketball player Magic Johnson, through Johnson Development Corporation, was one of the owners of the parent company. Former talk show host Montel Williams co-owns several Fatburger restaurants in Colorado. Bay Area musician E-40 also had a stake in the company as a franchise owner, by opening the first San Francisco Bay Area Fatburger restaurant in Pleasant Hill, which is now closed. Actor and musician Queen Latifah also at one point partnered with Fatburger.


title: Fatburger

text: In 2007, rapper Kanye West's restaurant company, KW Foods LLC, struck a deal to open up to 10 Fatburger restaurants in Chicago. Ultimately, in 2009, only two locations actually opened. In February 2011, West shut down the Fatburger located in Orland Park. Later in 2011 the remaining Beverly location was bought back by the company. R&B musician Pharrell, in partnership with Fatburger, opened several Fatburger restaurants in China in 2007 and 2008.


title: Syringomyelia

text: Syringomyelia is a generic term referring to a disorder in which a cyst or cavity forms within the spinal cord. Often, syringomyelia is used as a generic term before an etiology is determined. This cyst, called a syrinx, can expand and elongate over time, destroying the spinal cord. The damage may result in loss of feeling, paralysis, weakness, and stiffness in the back, shoulders, and extremities. Syringomyelia may also cause a loss of the ability to feel extremes of hot or cold, especially in the hands. It may also lead to a cape-like bilateral loss of pain and temperature sensation along the upper chest and arms. The combination of symptoms varies from one patient to another depending on the location of the syrinx within the spinal cord, as well as its extent.


title: Syringomyelia

text: Syringomyelia has a prevalence estimated at 8.4 cases per 100,000 people, with symptoms usually beginning in young adulthood. Signs of the disorder tend to develop slowly, although sudden onset may occur with coughing, straining, or myelopathy.


title: Syringomyelia

text: Syringomyelia causes a wide variety of neuropathic symptoms, due to damage to the spinal cord. Patients may experience severe chronic pain, abnormal sensations and loss of sensation, particularly in the hands. Some patients experience paralysis or paresis, temporarily or permanently. A syrinx may also cause disruptions in the parasympathetic and sympathetic nervous systems, leading to abnormal body temperature or sweating, bowel control issues, or other problems. If the syrinx is higher up in the spinal cord or affecting the brainstem, as in syringobulbia, vocal cord paralysis, ipsilateral tongue wasting, trigeminal nerve sensory loss, and other signs may be present. Rarely, bladder stones can occur at the onset of weakness in the lower extremities.


title: Syringomyelia

text: Classically, syringomyelia spares the dorsal column/medial lemniscus of the spinal cord, leaving pressure, vibration, touch and proprioception intact in the upper extremities. Neuropathic arthropathy, also known as a Charcot joint, can occur, particularly in the shoulders, in patients with syringomyelia. The loss of sensory fibers to the joint is theorized to lead to degeneration of the joint over time.


title: Syringomyelia

text: Generally, there are two forms of syringomyelia: congenital and acquired. Syringomyelia is generally a chronic disorder that occurs over time, resulting in muscular atrophy. Acquired Syringomyelia can be caused by a serious physical trauma to the body such as in a road traffic accident. Syringomyelia can also be classified into communicating and noncommunicating forms. Communicating typically occurs due to lesions on the foramen magnum and noncommunicating occurring due to other spinal cord diseases.


title: Syringomyelia

text: The first major form relates to an abnormality of the brain called an Arnold–Chiari malformation or Chiari malformation. This is the most common cause of syringomyelia, where the anatomic abnormality, which may be due to a small posterior fossa, causes the lower part of the cerebellum to protrude from its normal location in the back of the head into the cervical or neck portion of the spinal canal. A syrinx may then develop in the cervical region of the spinal cord. Here, symptoms usually begin between the ages of 25 and 40 and may worsen with straining, called a valsalva maneuver, or any activity that causes cerebrospinal fluid pressure to fluctuate suddenly. Some patients, however, may have long periods of stability. Some patients with this form of the disorder also have hydrocephalus, in which cerebrospinal fluid accumulates in the skull, or a condition called arachnoiditis, in which a covering of the spinal cord—the arachnoid membrane—is inflamed. Some cases of syringomyelia are familial, although this is rare.


title: Syringomyelia

text: The second major form of syringomyelia occurs as a complication of trauma, meningitis, hemorrhage, a tumor, or arachnoiditis. Here, the syrinx or cyst develops in a segment of the spinal cord damaged by one of these conditions. The syrinx then starts to expand. This is sometimes referred to as noncommunicating syringomyelia. Symptoms may appear months or even years after the initial injury, starting with pain, weakness, and sensory impairment originating at the site of trauma.


title: Syringomyelia

text: The primary symptom of post-traumatic syringomyelia (often referred to using the abbreviation of PTS) is pain, which may spread upward from the site of injury. Symptoms, such as pain, numbness, weakness, and disruption in temperature sensation, may be limited to one side of the body. Syringomyelia can also adversely affect sweating, sexual function, and, later, bladder and bowel control. A typical cause of PTS would be a car accident or similar trauma involving a whiplash injury.


title: Syringomyelia

text: What can make PTS difficult to diagnose is the fact that symptoms can often first appear long after the actual cause of the syrinx occurred (e.g., a car accident occurring and then the patient first experiencing PTS symptoms such as pain, loss of sensation, and reduced ability on the skin to feel varying degrees of hot and cold a number of months after the car accident).


title: Syringomyelia

text: The pathogenesis of syringomyelia is debated. The cerebrospinal fluid also serves to cushion the brain. Excess cerebrospinal fluid in the central canal of the spinal cord is called hydromyelia. This term refers to increased cerebrospinal fluid that is contained within the ependyma of the central canal. When fluid dissects into the surrounding white matter forming a cystic cavity or syrinx, the term syringomyelia is applied. As these conditions coexist in the majority of cases, the term syringohydromyelia is applied. The terms are used interchangeably.


title: Syringomyelia

text: It has been observed that obstruction of the cerebrospinal fluid spaces in the subarachnoid space can result in syrinx formation, and alleviation of the obstruction may improve symptoms. A number of pathological conditions can cause an obstruction of the normal cerebrospinal fluid spaces. These include Chiari malformation, spinal arachnoiditis, scoliosis, spinal vertebrae misalignment, spinal tumors, spina bifida, and others. The reasons that blockage of the cerebrospinal fluid space within the subarachnoid space can result in syrinx formation are not fully understood although a small posterior fossa is one known cause. It is unclear if syrinx fluid originates from bulk movement of cerebrospinal fluid into the spinal cord, from bulk transmural movement of blood fluids through the spinal vasculature into the syrinx, or from a combination of both. Recent work suggests that central nervous system compliance is the underlying problem for the central nervous system, and also that hydrocephalus and syringomyelia have related causes.


title: Syringomyelia

text: Physicians now use magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to diagnose syringomyelia. The MRI radiographer takes images of body anatomy, such as the brain and spinal cord, in vivid detail. This test will show the syrinx in the spine or any other conditions, such as the presence of a tumor. MRI is safe, painless, and informative and has greatly improved the diagnosis of syringomyelia.


title: Syringomyelia

text: The physician may order additional tests to help confirm the diagnosis. One of these is called electromyography (EMG), which show possible lower motor neuron damage. Note this test isn't used diagnostically for injuries to the spine but to nerves and muscles.This would be part of a patients rehab routine. In addition, computed axial tomography (CT) scans of a patient's head may reveal the presence of tumors and other abnormalities such as hydrocephalus.


title: Syringomyelia

text: Like MRI and CT scans, another test, called a myelogram, uses radiographs and requires a contrast medium to be injected into the subarachnoid space. Since the introduction of MRI, this test is rarely necessary to diagnose syringomyelia.


title: Syringomyelia

text: The possible causes are trauma, tumors, and congenital defects. It is most usually observed in the part of the spinal cord corresponding to the neck area. Symptoms are due to spinal cord damage and include pain, decreased sensation of touch, weakness, and loss of muscle tissue. The diagnosis is confirmed with a spinal CT, myelogram or MRI of the spinal cord. The cavity may be reduced by surgical decompression.


title: Syringomyelia

text: Furthermore, evidence also suggests that impact injuries to the thorax area highly correlate with the occurrence of a cervical-located syrinx.


title: Syringomyelia

text: Treating syringomyelia sometimes requires surgery. Surgery involving the spinal cord carries certain risks, and as with any medical treatment, the potential benefits have to be weighed against the possible complications. On the other hand, delaying treatment can increase the risk of permanent damage. Evaluation of the condition is necessary because syringomyelia can remain stationary for long periods of time, and in some cases progress rapidly.


title: Syringomyelia

text: The main goal of surgical intervention is to correct the condition which led to the formation of the syrinx. Draining the syrinx can also help, by preventing it from becoming worse, but the symptoms the syrinx has already caused may not go away.


title: Syringomyelia

text: In cases involving an Arnold–Chiari malformation, the main goal of surgery is to provide more space for the cerebellum at the base of the skull and upper cervical spine, without entering the brain or spinal cord. This often causes the syrinx to shrink or disappear over time, as the normal flow of cerebrospinal fluid is restored. If syringomyelia is caused by a tumor, removing the tumor – if possible – is the treatment of choice.


title: Syringomyelia

text: Most patients’ symptoms stabilize or have a modest improvement following surgery. Syringomyelia can come back, however, requiring additional surgeries which may be less effective.


title: Syringomyelia

text: In some cases, including both communicating and non-communicating forms of the condition, a syrinx may require ongoing drainage. This is done with a shunt, which uses tubes and valves to let cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) drain from the syrinx into another cavity within the body (usually the abdomen). This type of shunt, called a ventriculoperitoneal shunt, is particularly useful in cases involving hydrocephalus. By continually draining the syrinx, a shunt can arrest the progression of symptoms and relieve pain, headache, and tightness.


title: Syringomyelia

text: Many factors affect the decision to use a shunt. There are risks of injury to the spinal cord, infection, drainage becoming blocked, and bleeding, and they do not always achieve the intended results. Draining the fluid more quickly does not produce better outcomes, but for some syrinxes, a shunt is the only drainage option.


title: Syringomyelia

text: In the case of trauma-related syringomyelia, the surgeon operates at the level of the initial injury. The syrinx collapses at surgery, but a tube or shunt is usually necessary to prevent it from returning.


title: Syringomyelia

text: Surgery is not always recommended for syringomyelia patients. While there is no medication which can cure the condition, for many patients, the main treatment is analgesia to manage the symptoms. Physicians specializing in pain management can develop a medication and treatment plan to ameliorate pain. Medications to combat any neuropathic pain symptoms such as shooting and stabbing pains (e.g. gabapentin or pregabalin) would be first-line choices. Opiates are usually prescribed for pain for management of this condition. Conversely, facet joint injections are not indicated for the treatment of syringomyelia.


title: Syringomyelia

text: Radiation is rare, but may be used if a tumor is involved. In these cases, it can halt the extension of a cavity and may help to alleviate pain.


title: Syringomyelia

text: Treatment is usually reserved for cases which are causing symptoms. Treatment may not provide enough benefits to be recommended for elderly patients, or when symptoms are stable instead of worsening. Whether treated or not, many patients are advised to avoid activities that involve straining.


title: Syringomyelia

text: A conservative approach may be recommended, as the natural history of syringomyelia is not yet well understood. When surgery is not currently advised, patients are monitored with regular physical evaluations and MRI's.


title: Syringomyelia

text: The precise causes of syringomyelia are still unknown, although blockage of the flow of cerebrospinal fluid has been known to be an important factor since the 1970s. Scientists in the UK and US continue to explore the mechanisms that lead to the formation of syrinxes in the spinal cord. It has been demonstrated that a block of the free flow of cerebrospinal fluid is a contributing factor in the pathogenesis of the disease. Duke University in America and Warwick University are conducting research to explore genetic features of syringomyelia.


title: Syringomyelia

text: Surgical techniques are also being refined by the neurosurgical research community. Successful procedures expand the area around the cerebellum and spinal cord, improving the flow of cerebrospinal fluid and thereby reducing the syrinx.


title: Syringomyelia

text: It is also important to understand the role of birth defects in the development of hindbrain malformations that can lead to syringomyelia, as syringomyelia is a feature of intrauterine life and is also associated with spina bifida. Learning when these defects occur during the development of the fetus can help with the understanding of this and similar disorders, and may lead to preventive treatment that can stop the formation of some birth abnormalities.


title: Syringomyelia

text: Diagnostic technology is another area for continued research. MRI has enabled scientists to see the situation within the spine, including syringomyelia, before any symptoms appear. A new technology, known as dynamic MRI, allows investigators to view spinal fluid flow within the syrinx. CT scans allow physicians to see abnormalities in the brain, and other diagnostic tests have also improved greatly with the availability of new, non-toxic, contrast dyes.


title: PDF Split and Merge

text: PDFsam Basic or PDF Split and Merge is a free and open-source cross-platform desktop application to split, merge, extract pages, rotate and mix PDF documents.


title: PDF Split and Merge

text: PDFsam Basic is a desktop application freely accessible both as source and compiled code. It is available as a MSI package for 32-bit and 64-bit MS Windows, .dmg for macOS, .deb package for Debian based Linux distributions, and ZIP bundle for power users' convenience.


title: PDF Split and Merge

text: PDFsam Basic is written in Java and JavaFX. PDFsam Basic relies on Sejda SDK, an open source and task oriented Java library to edit PDF files and SAMBox, a PDFBox fork.


title: Siege engine

text: A siege engine is a device that is designed to break or circumvent heavy castle doors, thick city walls and other fortifications in siege warfare. Some are immobile, constructed in place to attack enemy fortifications from a distance, while others have wheels to enable advancing up to the enemy fortification. There are many distinct types, such as siege towers that allow foot soldiers to scale walls and attack the defenders, battering rams that damage walls or gates, and large ranged weapons (such as ballistae, catapults/trebuchets and other similar constructions) that attack from a distance by launching projectiles. Some complex siege engines were combinations of these types.


title: Siege engine

text: Siege engines are fairly large constructions – from the size of a small house to a large building. From antiquity up to the development of gunpowder, they were made largely of wood, using rope or leather to help bind them, possibly with a few pieces of metal at key stress points. They could launch simple projectiles using natural materials to build up force by tension, torsion, or, in the case of trebuchets, human power or counterweights coupled with mechanical advantage. With the development of gunpowder and improved metallurgy, bombards and later heavy artillery became the primary siege engines.


title: Siege engine

text: Collectively, siege engines or artillery together with the necessary soldiers, sappers, ammunition, and transport vehicles to conduct a siege are referred to as a siege train.


title: Siege engine

text: The earliest siege engines appear to be simple movable roofed towers used for cover to advance to the defenders' walls in conjunction with scaling ladders, depicted during the Middle Kingdom of Egypt. Advanced siege engines including battering rams were used by Assyrians, followed by the catapult in ancient Greece.


title: Siege engine

text: In Kush siege towers as well as battering rams were built from the 8th century BC and employed in Kushite siege warfare, such as the siege of Ashmunein in 715 BC.


title: Siege engine

text: The Spartans used battering rams in the Siege of Plataea in 429 BC, but it seems that the Greeks limited their use of siege engines to assault ladders, though Peloponnesian forces used something resembling flamethrowers.


title: Siege engine

text: The first Mediterranean people to use advanced siege machinery were the Carthaginians, who used siege towers and battering rams against the Greek colonies of Sicily. These engines influenced the ruler of Syracuse, Dionysius I, who developed a catapult in 399 BC.


title: Siege engine

text: The first two rulers to make use of siege engines to a large extent were Philip II of Macedonia and Alexander the Great. Their large engines spurred an evolution that led to impressive machines, like the Demetrius Poliorcetes' "Helepolis" (or "Taker of Cities") of 304 BC: nine stories high and plated with iron, it stood tall and wide, weighing . The most used engines were simple battering rams, or "tortoises", propelled in several ingenious ways that allowed the attackers to reach the walls or ditches with a certain degree of safety. For sea sieges or battles, seesaw-like machines ("sambykē" or "sambuca") were used. These were giant ladders, hinged and mounted on a base mechanism and used for transferring marines onto the sea walls of coastal towns. They were normally mounted on two or more ships tied together and some sambykē included shields at the top to protect the climbers from arrows. Other hinged engines were used to catch enemy equipment or even opposing soldiers with opposable appendices which are probably ancestors to the Roman corvus. Other weapons dropped heavy weights on opposing soldiers.


title: Siege engine

text: The Romans preferred to assault enemy walls by building earthen ramps ("agger") or simply scaling the walls, as in the early siege of the Samnite city of Silvium (306 BC). Soldiers working at the ramps were protected by shelters called "vineae", that were arranged to form a long corridor. Convex wicker shields were used to form a screen ("plutei" or plute in English) to protect the front of the corridor during construction of the ramp. Another Roman siege engine sometimes used resembled the Greek ditch-filling tortoise of Diades, this galley (unlike the ram-tortoise of Hegetor the Byzantium) called a "musculus" ("muscle") was simply used as cover for sappers to engineer an offensive ditch or earthworks. Battering rams were also widespread. The Roman Legions first used siege towers around 200 BC; in the first century BC, Julius Caesar accomplished a siege at Uxellodunum in Gaul using a ten-story siege tower. Romans were nearly always successful in besieging a city or fort, due to their persistence, the strength of their forces, their tactics, and their siege engines.


title: Siege engine

text: The first documented occurrence of ancient siege artillery pieces in Europe was the "gastraphetes" ("belly-bow"), a kind of large crossbow. These were mounted on wooden frames. Greater machines forced the introduction of pulley system for loading the projectiles, which had extended to include stones also. Later torsion siege engines appeared, based on sinew springs. The onager was the main Roman invention in the field.


title: Siege engine

text: The earliest documented occurrence of ancient siege-artillery pieces in China was the levered principled traction catapult and an high siege crossbow from the Mozi (Mo Jing), a Mohist text written at about the 4th – 3rd century BC by followers of Mozi who founded the Mohist school of thought during the late Spring and Autumn period and the early Warring States period. Much of what we now know of the siege technology of the time comes from Books 14 and 15 (Chapters 52 to 71) on Siege Warfare from the Mo Jing. Recorded and preserved on bamboo strips, much of the text is now extremely corrupted. However, despite the heavy fragmentation, Mohist diligence and attention to details which set Mo Jing apart from other works ensured that the highly descriptive details of the workings of mechanical devices like Cloud Ladders, Rotating Arcuballistas and Levered Catapults, records of siege techniques and usage of siege weaponry can still be found today.


title: Siege engine

text: Medieval designs include a large number of catapults such as the mangonel, onager, the ballista, the traction trebuchet (first designed in China in the 3rd century BC and brought over to Europe in the 4th century AD), and the counterweight trebuchet (first described by Mardi bin Ali al-Tarsusi in the 12th century, though of unknown origin). These machines used mechanical energy to fling large projectiles to batter down stone walls. Also used were the battering ram and the siege tower, a wooden tower on wheels that allowed attackers to climb up and over castle walls, while protected somewhat from enemy arrows.


title: Siege engine

text: A typical military confrontation in medieval times was for one side to lay siege to an opponent's castle. When properly defended, they had the choice whether to assault the castle directly or to starve the people out by blocking food deliveries, or to employ war machines specifically designed to destroy or circumvent castle defenses. Defending soldiers also used trebuchets and catapults as a defensive advantage.


title: Siege engine

text: Other tactics included setting fires against castle walls in an effort to decompose the cement that held together the individual stones so they could be readily knocked over. Another indirect means was the practice of mining, whereby tunnels were dug under the walls to weaken the foundations and destroy them. A third tactic was the catapulting of diseased animals or human corpses over the walls in order to promote disease which would force the defenders to surrender, an early form of biological warfare.


title: Siege engine

text: With the advent of gunpowder, firearms such as the arquebus and cannon—eventually the petard, mortar and artillery—were developed. These weapons proved so effective that fortifications, such as city walls, had to be low and thick, as exemplified by the designs of Vauban.


title: Siege engine

text: The development of specialized siege artillery, as distinct from field artillery, culminated during World War I and World War II. During the First World War, huge siege guns such as Big Bertha were designed to see use against the modern fortresses of the day. The apex of siege artillery was reached with the German Schwerer Gustav gun, a huge caliber railway gun, built during early World War II. Schwerer Gustav was initially intended to be used for breaching the French Maginot Line of fortifications, but was not finished in time and (as a sign of the times) the Maginot Line was circumvented by rapid mechanized forces instead of breached in a head-on assault. The long time it took to deploy and move the modern siege guns made them vulnerable to air attack and it also made them unsuited to the rapid troop movements of modern warfare.