title: Sensorineural hearing loss

text: If a sound entering the ear is displaced from the characteristic frequency, then the strength of response from the basilar membrane will progressively lessen. The fine tuning of the basilar membrane is created by the input of two separate mechanisms. The first mechanism being a linear passive mechanism, which is dependent on the mechanical structure of the basilar membrane and its surrounding structures. The second mechanism is a non-linear active mechanism, which is primarily dependent on the functioning of the OHCs, and also the general physiological condition of the cochlea itself. The base and apex of the basilar membrane differ in stiffness and width, which cause the basilar membrane to respond to varying frequencies differently along its length. The base of the basilar membrane is narrow and stiff, resulting in it responding best to high frequency sounds. The apex of the basilar membrane is wider and much less stiff in comparison to the base, causing it to respond best to low frequencies.


title: Sensorineural hearing loss

text: This selectivity to certain frequencies can be illustrated by neural tuning curves. These demonstrate the frequencies a fiber responds to, by showing threshold levels (dB SPL) of auditory nerve fibers as a function of different frequencies. This demonstrates that auditory nerve fibers respond best, and hence have better thresholds at the fiber's characteristic frequency and frequencies immediately surrounding it. The basilar membrane is said to be ‘sharply tuned’ due to the sharp ‘V’ shaped curve, with its ‘tip’ centered at the auditory fibers characteristic frequency. This shape shows how few frequencies a fiber responds to. If it were a broader ‘V’ shape, it would be responding to more frequencies (See Figure 4).


title: Sensorineural hearing loss

text: A normal neural tuning curve is characterised by a broadly tuned low frequency ‘tail’, with a finely tuned middle frequency ‘tip’. However, where there is partial or complete damage to the OHCs, but with unharmed IHCs, the resulting tuning curve would show the elimination of sensitivity at the quiet sounds. I.e. where the neural tuning curve would normally be most sensitive (at the ‘tip’) (See Figure 5).


title: Sensorineural hearing loss

text: Where both the OHCs and the IHCs are damaged, the resulting neural tuning curve would show the elimination of sensitivity at the ‘tip'. However, due to IHC damage, the whole tuning curve becomes raised, giving a loss of sensitivity across all frequencies (See Figure 6). It is only necessary for the first row of OHCs to be damaged for the elimination of the finely tuned ‘tip’ to occur. This supports the idea that the incidence of OHC damage and thus a loss of sensitivity to quiet sounds, occurs more than IHC loss.


title: Sensorineural hearing loss

text: When the IHCs or part of the basilar membrane are damaged or destroyed, so that they no longer function as transducers, the result is a ‘dead region’. Dead regions can be defined in terms of the characteristic frequencies of the IHC, related to the specific place along the basilar membrane where the dead region occurs. Assuming that there has been no shift in the characteristic frequencies relating to certain regions of the basilar membrane, due to the damage of OHCs. This often occurs with IHC damage. Dead regions can also be defined by the anatomical place of the non-functioning IHC (such as an “apical dead region”), or by the characteristic frequencies of the IHC adjacent to the dead region.


title: Sensorineural hearing loss

text: Dead regions affect audiometric results, but perhaps not in the way expected. For example, it may be expected that thresholds would not be obtained at the frequencies within the dead region, but would be obtained at frequencies adjacent to the dead region. Therefore, assuming normal hearing exists around the dead region, it would produce an audiogram that has a dramatically steep slope between the frequency where a threshold is obtained, and the frequency where a threshold cannot be obtained due to the dead region.


title: Sensorineural hearing loss

text: However, it appears that this is not the case. Dead regions cannot be clearly found via PTA audiograms. This may be because although the neurons innervating the dead region, cannot react to vibration at their characteristic frequency. If the basilar membrane vibration is large enough, neurons tuned to different characteristic frequencies such as those adjacent to the dead region, will be stimulated due to the spread of excitation. Therefore, a response from the patient at the test frequency will be obtained. This is referred to as “off-place listening”, and is also known as ‘off-frequency listening’. This will lead to a false threshold being found. Thus, it appears a person has better hearing than they actually do, resulting in a dead region being missed. Therefore, using PTA alone, it is impossible to identify the extent of a dead region (See Figure 7 and 8).


title: Sensorineural hearing loss

text: Consequently, how much is an audiometric threshold affected by a tone with its frequency within a dead region? This depends on the location of the dead region. Thresholds at low frequency dead regions, are more inaccurate than those at higher frequency dead regions. This has been attributed to the fact that excitation due to vibration of the basilar membrane spreads upwards from the apical regions of the basilar membrane, more than excitation spreads downwards from higher frequency basal regions of the cochlea. This pattern of the spread of excitation is similar to the ‘upward spread of masking’ phenomenon. If the tone is sufficiently loud to produce enough excitation at the normally functioning area of the cochlea, so that it is above that areas threshold. The tone will be detected, due to off-frequency listening which results in a misleading threshold.


title: Sensorineural hearing loss

text: To help to overcome the issue of PTA producing inaccurate thresholds within dead regions, masking of the area beyond the dead region that is being stimulated can be used. This means that the threshold of the responding area is sufficiently raised, so that it cannot detect the spread of excitation from the tone. This technique has led to the suggestion that a low frequency dead region may be related to a loss of 40-50 dB. However, as one of the aims of PTA is to determine whether or not there is a dead region, it may be difficult to assess which frequencies to mask without the use of other tests.


title: Sensorineural hearing loss

text: Based on research it has been suggested that a low frequency dead region may produce a relatively flat loss, or a very gradually sloping loss towards the higher frequencies. As the dead region will be less detectable due to the upward spread of excitation. Whereas, there may be a more obvious steeply sloping loss at high frequencies for a high frequency dead region. Although it is likely that the slope represents the less pronounced downward spread of excitation, rather than accurate thresholds for those frequencies with non-functioning hair cells. Mid-frequency dead regions, with a small range, appear to have less effect on the patient's ability to hear in everyday life, and may produce a notch in the PTA thresholds. Although it is clear that PTA is not the best test to identify a dead region.


title: Sensorineural hearing loss

text: Although some debate continues regarding the reliability of such tests, it has been suggested that psychoacoustic tuning curves (PTCs) and threshold-equalising noise (TEN) results may be useful in detecting dead regions, rather than PTA. PTCs are similar to neural tuning curves. They illustrate the level of a masker (dB SPL) tone at threshold, as a function of deviation from center frequency (Hz). They are measured by presenting a fixed low intensity pure tone while also presenting a narrow-band masker, with a varying center frequency. The masker level is varied, so that the level of masker needed to just mask the test signal is found for the masker at each center frequency. The tip of the PTC is where the masker level needed to just mask the test signal is the lowest. For normal hearing people this is when the masker center frequency is closest to the frequency of the test signal (See Figure 9).


title: Sensorineural hearing loss

text: In the case of dead regions, when the test signal lies within the boundaries of a dead region, the tip of the PTC will be shifted to the edge of the dead region, to the area that is still functioning and detecting the spread of excitation from the signal. In the case of a low frequency dead region, the tip is shifted upwards indicating a low frequency dead region starting at the tip of the curve. For a high frequency dead region, the tip is shifted downwards from the signal frequency to the functioning area below the dead region. However, the traditional method of obtaining PTCs is not practical for clinical use, and it has been argued that TENs are not accurate enough. A fast method for finding PTCs has been developed and it may provide the solution. However, more research to validate this method is required, before it can be accepted clinically.


title: Sensorineural hearing loss

text: Audiogram configurations are not good indicators of how a dead region will affect a person functionally, mainly due to individual differences. For example, a sloping audiogram is often present with a dead region, due to the spread of excitation. However, the individual may well be affected differently from someone with a corresponding sloped audiogram caused by partial damage to hair cells rather than a dead region. They will perceive sounds differently, yet the audiogram suggests that they have the same degree of loss. Huss and Moore investigated how hearing impaired patients perceive pure tones, and found that they perceive tones as noisy and distorted, more (on average) than a person without a hearing impairment. However, they also found that the perception of tones as being like noise, was not directly related to frequencies within the dead regions, and was therefore not an indicator of a dead region. This therefore suggests that audiograms, and their poor representation of dead regions, are inaccurate predictors of a patient's perception of pure tone quality.


title: Sensorineural hearing loss

text: Research by Kluk and Moore has shown that dead regions may also affect the patient's perception of frequencies beyond the dead regions. There is an enhancement in the ability to distinguish between tones that differ very slightly in frequency, in regions just beyond the dead regions compared to tones further away. An explanation for this may be that cortical re-mapping has occurred. Whereby, neurons which would normally be stimulated by the dead region, have been reassigned to respond to functioning areas near it. This leads to an over-representation of these areas, resulting in an increased perceptual sensitivity to small frequency differences in tones.


title: Sensorineural hearing loss

text: Direct examination of the external canal and tympanic membrane (ear drum) with an otoscope, a medical device inserted into the ear canal that uses light to examine the condition of the external ear and tympanic membrane, and


title: Sensorineural hearing loss

text: Differential testing is most useful when there is unilateral hearing loss, and distinguishes conductive from sensorineural loss. These are conducted with a low frequency tuning fork, usually 512 Hz, and contrast measures of air and bone conducted sound transmission.


title: Sensorineural hearing loss

text: Other, more complex, tests of auditory function are required to distinguish the different types of hearing loss. Bone conduction thresholds can differentiate sensorineural hearing loss from conductive hearing loss. Other tests, such as oto-acoustic emissions, acoustic stapedial reflexes, speech audiometry and evoked response audiometry are needed to distinguish sensory, neural and auditory processing hearing impairments.


title: Sensorineural hearing loss

text: A tympanogram is the result of a test with a tympanometer. It tests the function of the middle ear and mobility of the eardrum. It can help identify conductive hearing loss due to disease of the middle ear or eardrum from other kinds of hearing loss including SNHL.


title: Sensorineural hearing loss

text: An audiogram is the result of a hearing test. The most common type of hearing test is pure tone audiometry (PTA). It charts the thresholds of hearing sensitivity at a selection of standard frequencies between 250 and 8000 Hz. There is also high frequency pure tone audiometry which tests frequencies from 8000-20,000 Hz. PTA can be used to differentiate between conductive hearing loss, sensorineural hearing loss and mixed hearing loss. A hearing loss can be described by its degree i.e. mild, moderate, severe or profound, or by its shape i.e. high frequency or sloping, low frequency or rising, notched, U-shaped or 'cookie-bite', peaked or flat.


title: Sensorineural hearing loss

text: There are also other kinds of audiometry designed to test hearing acuity rather than sensitivity (speech audiometry), or to test


title: Sensorineural hearing loss

text: MRI scans can be used to identify gross structural causes of hearing loss. They are used for congenital hearing loss when changes to the shape of the inner ear or nerve of hearing may help diagnosis of the cause of the hearing loss. They are also useful in cases where a tumour is suspected or to determine the degree of damage in a hearing loss caused by bacterial infection or auto-immune disease. Scanning is of no value in age-related deafness.


title: Sensorineural hearing loss

text: Presbycusis is the leading cause of SNHL and is progressive and nonpreventable, and at this time, we do not have either somatic or gene therapy to counter heredity-related SNHL. But other causes of acquired SNHL are largely preventable, especially nosocusis type causes. This would involve avoiding environmental noise, and traumatic noise such as rock concerts and nightclubs with loud music. Use of noise attenuation measures like ear plugs is an alternative, as well as learning about the noise levels one is exposed to. Currently, several accurate sound level measurement apps exist. Reducing exposure time can also help manage risk from loud exposures.


title: Sensorineural hearing loss

text: Treatment modalities fall into three categories: pharmacological, surgical, and management. As SNHL is a physiologic degradation and considered permanent, there are as of this time, no approved or recommended treatments.


title: Sensorineural hearing loss

text: There have been significant advances in identification of human deafness genes and elucidation of their cellular mechanisms as well as their physiological function in mice. Nevertheless, pharmacological treatment options are very limited and clinically unproven. Such pharmaceutical treatments as are employed are palliative rather than curative, and addressed to the underlying cause if one can be identified, in order to avert progressive damage.


title: Sensorineural hearing loss

text: Profound or total hearing loss may be amenable to management by cochlear implants, which stimulate cochlear nerve endings directly. A cochlear implant is surgical implantation of a battery powered electronic medical device in the inner ear. Unlike hearing aids, which make sounds louder, cochlear implants do the work of damaged parts of the inner ear (cochlea) to provide sound signals to the brain. These consist of both internal implanted electrodes and magnets and external components. The quality of sound is different than natural hearing but may enable the recipient to better recognize speech and environmental sounds.


title: Sensorineural hearing loss

text: Because of risk and expense, such surgery is reserved for cases of severe and disabling hearing impairment


title: Sensorineural hearing loss

text: Management of sensorineural hearing loss involves employing strategies to support existing hearing such as lip-reading, enhanced communication etc. and amplification using hearing aids. Hearing aids are specifically tuned to the individual hearing loss to give maximum benefit.


title: Sensorineural hearing loss

text: Hair cell regeneration using stem cell and gene therapy is years or decades away from being clinically feasible. However, studies are currently underway on the subject, with the first FDA-approved trial beginning in February 2012.


title: Sensorineural hearing loss

text: Sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSHL or SSNHL), commonly known as sudden deafness, occurs as an unexplained, rapid loss of hearing—usually in one ear—either at once or over several days. Nine out of ten people with SSHL lose hearing in only one ear. It should be considered a medical emergency. Delaying diagnosis and treatment may render treatment less effective or ineffective.


title: Sensorineural hearing loss

text: Experts estimate that SSHL strikes one person per 100 every year, typically adults in their 40s and 50s. The actual number of new cases of SSHL each year could be much higher because the condition often goes undiagnosed.


title: Sensorineural hearing loss

text: Many people notice that they have SSHL when they wake up in the morning. Others first notice it when they try to use the deafened ear, such as when they use a phone. Still others notice a loud, alarming "pop" just before their hearing disappears. People with sudden deafness often become dizzy, have ringing in their ears (tinnitus), or both.


title: Sensorineural hearing loss

text: SSHL is diagnosed via pure tone audiometry. If the test shows a loss of at least 30 dB in three adjacent frequencies, the hearing loss is diagnosed as SSHL. For example, a hearing loss of 30 dB would make conversational speech sound more like a whisper.


title: Sensorineural hearing loss

text: Only 10 to 15 percent of the cases diagnosed as SSHL have an identifiable cause. Most cases are classified as idiopathic, also called sudden idiopathic hearing loss (SIHL) and idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss (ISSHL or ISSNHL) The majority of evidence points to some type of inflammation in the inner ear as the most common cause of SSNHL.


title: Sensorineural hearing loss

text: Hearing loss completely recovers in around 35-39% of patients with SSNHL, usually within one to two weeks from onset. Eighty-five percent of those who receive treatment from an otolaryngologist (sometimes called an ENT surgeon) will recover some of their hearing.


title: Sensorineural hearing loss

text: General hearing loss affects close to 10% of the global population. In the United States alone, it is expected that 13.5 million Americans have sensorineural hearing loss. Of those with sensorineural hearing loss, approximately 50% are congenitally related. The other 50% are due to maternal or fetal infections, post-natal infections, viral infections due to rubella or cytomegalovirus, ototoxic drugs, exposure to loud sounds, severe head trauma, and premature births


title: Sensorineural hearing loss

text: Of the genetically related sensorineural hearing loss cases, 75% are autosomal recessive, 15-20% autosomal dominant, and 1-3% sex-linked. While the specific gene and protein is still unknown, mutations in the connexin 26 gene near the DFNB1 locus of chromosome 13 are thought to account for most of the autosomal recessive genetic-related sensorineural hearing loss


title: Sensorineural hearing loss

text: At least 8.5 per 1000 children younger than age 18 have sensorineural hearing loss. General hearing loss is proportionally related to age. At least 314 per 1000 people older than age 65 have hearing loss. Several risk factors for sensorineural hearing loss have been studied over the past decade. Osteoporosis, stapedectomy surgery, pneumococcal vaccinations, mobile phone users, and hyperbilirubinemia at birth are among some of the known risk factors.


title: Sensorineural hearing loss

text: 38.Ghazavi H,Kargoshaei A-A,Jamshidi-Koohsari M,"Investigation of vitamin D levels in patients with Sudden Sensory-Neural Hearing Loss and its effect on treatment",American journal of otolaryngology and head and neck medicine and suegery,November 2019


title: Operation Meghdoot

text: Operation Meghdoot ( "Operation Cloud Messenger" after a famous Sanskrit poem by Kalidasa) was the codename for the Indian Armed Forces' operation to seize control of the Siachen Glacier in Kashmir, precipitating the Siachen conflict. Executed in the morning of 13 April 1984 in the highest battlefield in the world, Meghdoot was the first military offensive of its kind. The operation preempted Pakistan's impending Operation Ababeel (which was intended to achieve the same objective as Meghdoot) and was a success, resulting in Indian forces gaining control of the Siachen Glacier in its entirety.


title: Operation Meghdoot

text: Currently, the Indian Army remains the first and only army in the world to have taken tanks and other heavy ordnance up to such an altitude (well over ). Up to ten infantry battalions each of the Indian Army and Pakistan Army are actively deployed at high altitudes of up to throughout the region of the glacier.


title: Operation Meghdoot

text: The Siachen Glacier became a bone of contention following a vague demarcation of territories in the Karachi Agreement of July 1949 which did not exactly specify who had authority over the Siachen Glacier area. Indian interpretation was that Pakistan territory extended only to about the Saltoro Ridge based on the Simla agreement where the territorial line's route after the last demarcated Point NJ9842 was "thence north to the glaciers." Pakistan interpretation was that their territory continued northeast from Point NJ9842 to the Karakoram Pass. As a result, both nations claimed the barren heights and the Siachen Glacier. In the 1970s and early 1980s, Pakistan permitted several mountaineering expeditions to climb the peaks in the Siachen region from the Pakistani side, perhaps in an attempt to reinforce their claim on the area as these expeditions received permits obtained from the Government of Pakistan and in many cases a liaison officer from the Pakistan Army accompanied the teams. In 1978, the Indian Army also allowed mountaineering expeditions to the glacier, approaching from its side. The most notable one was the one launched by Colonel Narinder "Bull" Kumar of the Indian Army, who led an expedition to Teram Kangri, along with medical officer Captain A.V.S. Gupta. The Indian Air Force provided valuable support to this expedition in 1978 through logistic support and supply of fresh rations. The first air landing on the glacier was carried out on 6 October 1978 when two casualties were evacuated from the Advance Base Camp in a Chetak helicopter by Sqn Ldr Monga and Flying Officer Manmohan Bahadur. Contention over the glacier was aggravated by these expeditions, through both sides asserting their claims.


title: Operation Meghdoot

text: Notably, when Pakistan gave permission to a Japanese expedition to scale an important peak (Rimo I) in 1984, it further fueled the suspicion of the Indian Government of Pakistani attempts to legitimize their claim. The peak, located east of the Siachen Glacier, also overlooks the northwestern areas of the Aksai Chin area which is controlled by China but claimed by India. The Indian military believed that such an expedition could further a link for a trade route from the northeastern (Chinese) to the southwestern (Pakistani) side of the Karakoram Range and eventually provide a strategic, if not tactical, advantage to the Pakistani Armed Forces.


title: Operation Meghdoot

text: The Indian military decided to deploy troops from Northern Ladakh region as well as some paramilitary forces to the glacier area. Most of the troops had been acclimatized to the extremities of the glacier through a training expedition to Antarctica in 1982 before eventually launching the operation to occupy the complete glacier. In 1983, Pakistani generals decided to stake their claim through troop deployments to the Siachen glacier. After analysing the Indian Army's mountaineering expeditions, they feared that India might capture key ridges and passes near the glacier, and decided to send their own troops first. Islamabad ordered Arctic-weather gear from a London supplier, unaware that the same supplier provided outfits to the Indians. The Indians were informed about this development and initiated their own plan, providing them with a head start.


title: Operation Meghdoot

text: The Indian Army planned an operation to control the glacier by 13 April 1984, to preempt the Pakistani Army by about 4 days, as intelligence had reported that the Pakistani operation planned to occupy the glacier by 17 April. Named for the divine cloud messenger, Meghaduta, from the 4th century AD Sanskrit play by Kalidasa, Operation "Meghdoot" was led by Lieutenant General Prem Nath Hoon. The task of occupying the Saltoro ridge was given to 26 Sector, commanded by Brigadier Vijay Channa, who was tasked with launching the operation between 10 and 30 April. He chose 13 April, supposedly a lucky date, because it was the Vaisakhi day, when the Pakistanis would be least expecting the Indians to launch an operation.


title: Operation Meghdoot

text: Preparations for Operation "Meghdoot" started with the airlift of Indian Army soldiers by the Indian Air Force. The Air Force used Il-76, An-12 and An-32 to transport stores and troops as well to airdrop supplies to high altitude airfields. From there Mi-17, Mi-8 and HAL Chetak helicopters carried provisions and personnel to the east of the hitherto unscaled peaks.


title: Operation Meghdoot

text: The first phase of the operation began in March 1984 with the march on foot to the eastern base of the glacier. A full battalion of the Kumaon Regiment and units from the Ladakh Scouts, marched with full battle packs through an ice-bound Zoji La pass for days. The units under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel (later Brigadier) D. K. Khanna were moved on foot to avoid detection of large troop movements by Pakistani radars.


title: Operation Meghdoot

text: The first unit—tasked with establishing a position on the heights of the glacier—was led by Major (later Lieutenant-Colonel) R. S. Sandhu. The next unit led by Captain Sanjay Kulkarni secured Bilafond La. The remaining forward deployment units then marched and climbed for four days under the command of Captain P. V. Yadav to secure the remaining heights of the Saltoro Ridge. By 13 April, approximately 300 Indian troops were dug into the critical peaks and passes of the glacier. By the time Pakistan troops managed to get into the immediate area, they found that the Indian troops had controlled all three major mountain passes of Sia La, Bilafond La, and by 1987 Gyong La and all the commanding heights of the Saltoro Ridge west of the Siachen Glacier. Handicapped by the altitude and the limited time, Pakistan could only manage to control the Saltoro Ridge's western slopes and foothills despite the fact that Pakistan possessed more ground accessible routes to the area, unlike Indian access which was largely reliant on air drops for supplies due to the steeper eastern side of the glacier.


title: Operation Meghdoot

text: In , former Pakistani president, General Pervez Musharraf states that Pakistan lost of territory. Time magazine also states that the Indian advance captured of territory claimed by Pakistan. Camps were soon converted to permanent posts by both countries. The number of casualties on both sides during this particular operation is not known.


title: Operation Meghdoot

text: No reliable data is available. However, both sides incurred most of their casualties from the weather and the terrain. A large number of soldiers from both sides suffered frostbite and high altitude sickness or were lost in avalanches or crevasses during patrols.


title: Operation Meghdoot

text: In Siachen Glacier Operation Meghdoot, from 1984 till 18.11.2016, 35 officers and 887 JCOs / ORs have lost their lives. This information was given by Minister of State for Defence Dr. Subhash Bhamre in a written reply to Majeed Memon in Rajya Sabha.


title: Operation Meghdoot

text: The operation resulted in India gaining long Siachen Glacier and all of its tributary glaciers, as well as three main passes of the Saltoro Ridge immediately west of the glacier, Sia La, Bilafond La, and Gyong La, thus presently giving India the tactical advantage of holding higher grounds. The AGPL runs roughly along the Saltoro Mountains from Point NJ9842 on the India-Pakistan LoC to near La Yongma Ri, Gyong La, Gyong Kangri, Chumik Kangri, Bilafond La (pass) and nearby Bana Post, Saltoro Kangri, Ghent Kangri, and Sia La to the India–Pakistan–China trijunction northwest of Indira Col West on the Sino-Indian LAC. The peaks and passes under Pakistan's control such as Gayari Camp, Chogolisa, Baltoro Glacier, Conway Saddle, Baltoro Muztagh, and Gasherbrum lie west of the AGPL.


title: Operation Meghdoot

text: The operation and the continued cost of maintaining logistics to the area is a major drain on both militaries. Pakistan launched an all-out assault in 1987 and again in 1989 to capture the ridge and passes held by India. The first assault was headed by then-Brigadier-General Pervez Musharraf (later President of Pakistan) and initially managed to capture a few high points before being pushed back. Later the same year, Pakistan lost at least one major Pakistani post, the "Quaid", which came under Indian control as Bana Post, in recognition of Bana Singh who launched a daring daylight attack, codenamed Operation Rajiv, after climbing of ice cliff. Bana Singh was awarded the Param Vir Chakra (PVC) – the highest gallantry award of India for the assault that captured the post. Bana Post is the highest battlefield post in the world today at a height of above sea level. The second assault in 1989 was also unsuccessful as the ground positions did not change. The loss of most of the Siachen area and the subsequent unsuccessful military forays prompted Benazir Bhutto to taunt Zia ul Haq that he should wear a burqa as he had lost his manliness.


title: Operation Meghdoot

text: "Operation Meghdoot: How India Captured Siachen (Battle Ops)" (2018) is a TV documentary which premièred on the Discovery Channel's Veer by Discovery series, Battle Ops.


title: Abiquiu (Breaking Bad)

text: "Abiquiu" is the eleventh episode of the third season of the American television drama series "Breaking Bad", and the 31st overall episode of the series. It was written by John Shiban and Thomas Schnauz and directed by Michelle MacLaren. The title refers to Abiquiú, New Mexico, where Georgia O'Keeffe had a home and studio.


title: Abiquiu (Breaking Bad)

text: In a flashback, Jesse Pinkman and Jane Margolis visit the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum and view her painting "My Last Door". The two debate the meaning of the painting before Jane concludes that O'Keeffe was simply trying to make a good feeling last.


title: Abiquiu (Breaking Bad)

text: In the present, Hank Schrader is frustrated with his physical therapy. Marie gives Skyler White the therapy bill to pay as they previously discussed. Walt attempts to pay with his drug money, but Skyler insists the source must be "unimpeachable." Walt takes her to meet Saul, who laundered his money in the past. Skyler is put off by his flippant personality and his scheme to buy a laser tag facility. Instead, she suggests a more believable business investment: the car wash where Walt previously worked. Saul objects, as the owner of the laser tag facility would ask no questions about the deal, while the car wash owner, Bogdan Wolynetz, is an unknown factor. Skyler offers to help launder the money by managing the car wash. Walt worries that this would make her liable for his actions, but she reveals she never filed the divorce papers, and if married, cannot be made to testify against him.


title: Abiquiu (Breaking Bad)

text: Meanwhile, Walt warns Jesse about skimming some of their meth product, which he continues to deny doing. Jesse takes what he has stolen to a Narcotics Anonymous meeting to give to Badger Mayhew and Skinny Pete to help peddle. The two say they cannot bring themselves to sell meth to recovering addicts, so Jesse shows them how easy it is by striking up a conversation with Andrea Cantillo, a newcomer to the meetings. He soon becomes attached to Andrea while surreptitiously attempting to sell her drugs. Andrea invites him to her home, where Jesse discovers she has a son, Brock. From him, Jesse learns that she has a younger brother named Tomás, although she initially refuses to talk about him. Later, Andrea suggests they use methamphetamine, but Jesse declines now that he knows she has a child, and the two argue. Andrea insists she wants to avoid having Brock suffer from the same fate as Tomás, who, as part of an initiation to a local drug gang, shot a rival dealer at a street corner. Jesse recognizes that the murder was that of Combo a few months prior.


title: Abiquiu (Breaking Bad)

text: Gus invites Walt to his home for a private dinner, telling Walt that he made many mistakes when he first began working in the drug business. He regrets that he did not have a mentor and warns Walt never to make the same mistake twice. The next day, Jesse travels to the corner where Combo was killed. He finds Tomás there, and confirms that not only is he working for a drug gang, but the gang works for Gus peddling the blue meth that he and Walt are making. Jesse quietly walks away, enraged.


title: Abiquiu (Breaking Bad)

text: The episode was written by John Shiban and Thomas Schnauz, and directed by Michelle MacLaren; it aired on AMC in the United States and Canada on May 30, 2010.


title: Abiquiu (Breaking Bad)

text: The episode's original broadcast was viewed by 1.32 million people, an increase from the 1.20 million from the previous episode, "Fly".


title: Abiquiu (Breaking Bad)

text: The episode was critically acclaimed. Seth Amitin of "IGN" gave the episode a rating of 8.9 out of 10 commenting: ""Breaking Bad" has been one of the few shows on television to have amazing story arcs and characters, not just in each episode, but in the series as a whole. "Abiquiú" was a great example of this."


title: Abiquiu (Breaking Bad)

text: Donna Bowman of "The A.V. Club" gave the episode an A− rating, noting "it's become increasingly obvious this season how quickly "Breaking Bad" has decided to move through its starting premises."


title: Ray Conniff

text: Joseph Raymond Conniff (November 6, 1916 – October 12, 2002) was an American bandleader and arranger best known for his Ray Conniff Singers during the 1960s.


title: Ray Conniff

text: Conniff was born November 6, 1916 in Attleboro, Massachusetts, United States, and learned to play the trombone from his father. He studied music arranging from a course book.


title: Ray Conniff

text: After serving in the U.S. Army in World War II (where he worked under Walter Schumann), he joined the Artie Shaw big band and wrote many arrangements for him. After his stint with Shaw, he was hired in 1954 by Mitch Miller, head of A&R at Columbia Records, as the label's home arranger, working with several artists including Rosemary Clooney, Marty Robbins, Frankie Laine, Johnny Mathis, Guy Mitchell and Johnnie Ray. He wrote a top-10 arrangement for Don Cherry's "Band of Gold" in 1955, a single that sold more than a million copies. Among the hit singles Conniff backed with his orchestra (and eventually with a male chorus) were "Yes Tonight Josephine" and "Just Walkin' in the Rain" by Johnnie Ray; "Chances Are" and "It's Not for Me to Say" by Johnny Mathis; "A White Sport Coat" and "The Hanging Tree" by Marty Robbins; "Moonlight Gambler" by Frankie Laine; "Up Above My Head", a duet by Frankie Laine and Johnnie Ray; and "Pet Me, Poppa" by Rosemary Clooney. He also backed up the albums "Tony" by Tony Bennett, "Blue Swing" by Eileen Rodgers, "Swingin' for Two" by Don Cherry, and half the tracks of "The Big Beat" by Johnnie Ray. In these early years Conniff produced similar-sounding records for Columbia's Epic label under the name of Jay Raye (which stood for "Joseph Raymond"), among them a backing album and singles with the American male vocal group Somethin' Smith and the Redheads.


title: Ray Conniff

text: Between 1957 and 1968, Conniff had 28 albums in the American Top 40, the most famous one being "Somewhere My Love" (1966). He topped the album list in Britain in 1969 with "His Orchestra, His Chorus, His Singers, His Sound," an album which was originally published to promote his European tour (Germany, Austria, Switzerland) in 1969. He also was the first American popular artist to record in Russia—in 1974 he recorded "Ray Conniff in Moscow" with the help of a local choir. His later albums like "Exclusivamente Latino," "Amor Amor," and "Latinisimo" made him very popular in Latin-American countries, even more so after performing in the Viña del Mar International Song Festival. In Brazil and Chile in the 1980s and 1990s, he was treated like a young pop superstar despite being in his seventies and eighties. He played live with his orchestra and eight-person chorus in large football stadiums as well as in Viña del Mar.


title: Ray Conniff

text: Conniff commented, "One time I was recording an album with Mitch Miller – we had a big band and a small choir. I decided to have the choir sing along with the big band using wordless lyrics. The women were doubled with the trumpets and the men were doubled with the trombones. In the booth Mitch was totally surprised and excited at how well it worked." Because of the success of his backing arrangements, and the new sound Conniff created, Miller allowed him to make his own record, and this became the successful "’s Wonderful!", a collection of standards that were recorded with an orchestra and a wordless singing chorus (four men, four women). He released many more albums in the same vein, including "’s Marvelous" (1957, gold album), "’s Awful Nice" (1958), "Concert in Rhythm" (1958, gold album), "Broadway in Rhythm" (1958), "Hollywood in Rhythm" (1959), "Concert in Rhythm", Vol. II (1960), "Say It With Music" (1960), "Memories Are Made of This" (1960, gold album), and "’s Continental" (1962). His second album was "Dance the Bop!" (1957). It was an experiment by one of the senior managers at Columbia to cash in on a new dance step, but from the outset, Conniff disliked it. When it sold poorly, he had it withdrawn.


title: Ray Conniff

text: In 1959, Conniff started The Ray Conniff Singers (12 women and 13 men and released the album "It's the Talk of the Town." This group brought him his biggest hit: "Somewhere My Love" (1966). The lyrics of the album's title track were sung to the music of "Lara's Theme" from the film "Doctor Zhivago," and it became a US top 10 single.


title: Ray Conniff

text: The album reached the US top 20 and went platinum, and Conniff won a Grammy. The single and album also reached high positions in the international charts (a.o. Australia, Germany, Great Britain, Japan), while the first of four Christmas albums by the Singers, "Christmas with Conniff" (1959) was also successful.


title: Ray Conniff

text: Nearly 50 years after its release, in 2004, Conniff was posthumously awarded a platinum album/CD. Other well-known releases by the Singers included "Ray Conniff's Hawaiian Album" (1967), featuring the hit song "Pearly Shells," and "Bridge Over Troubled Water" (1970), which included Conniff's original composition "Someone", and remakes of such hits as "All I Have to Do is Dream", "I'll Never Fall in Love Again", and "Something".


title: Ray Conniff

text: Musically different highlights in Conniff's career are two albums he produced in cooperation with Billy Butterfield, an old friend from earlier swing days. "Conniff Meets Butterfield" (1959) featured Butterfield's solo trumpet and a small rhythm group, and "Just Kiddin' Around" (after a Conniff original composition from the 1940s), released in 1963, which featured additional trombone solos by Ray himself. Both albums are pure light jazz and did not feature any vocals.


title: Ray Conniff

text: Conniff recorded in New York from 1955 to 1961, and mainly in Los Angeles from 1962 through 2000. Later in the 1960s he produced an average of two instrumental and one vocal album a year.


title: Ray Conniff

text: In 1979, Conniff was hired to re-arrange and record a new version of "Those Were The Days" and "Remembering You", the opening and closing themes to "All In The Family" for Carroll O'Connor's new spin-off, "Archie Bunker's Place" on CBS with a small ensemble, trombone solo, and honky-tonk piano. Conniff sold about 70 million albums worldwide, and continued recording and performing until his death in 2002.


title: Ray Conniff

text: Ray Conniff died October 12, 2002 in Escondido, California after falling and hitting his head on the sink, and is buried in the Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles, California. His grave marker bears a musical score with the first four notes of "Somewhere My Love". Conniff was survived by his wife Vera, daughter Tamara Conniff, son Jimmy Conniff, and three grandchildren. Jimmy Conniff died in 2015.


title: Ray Conniff

text: In 2004, a memorial two-CD compilation set, "The Essential Ray Conniff," was released, featuring many rare and previously unreleased tracks. "The Singles Collection, Vol. 1" was released on the Collectables label in 2005, "The Singles Collection, Vol. 2" in 2007, and Vol. 3 was released in 2009. These collections feature rare singles and previously unissued tracks. His music is also featured prominently in the movie "There's Something About Mary".


title: Ray Conniff

text: In 2022, "Bah Bah Conniff Sprach (Zarathustra)" from Conniff's 1973 album, You Are the Sunshine of My Life, was featured in a Salesforce TV commercial starring Matthew McConaughey.


title: Ray Conniff

text: Ray Conniff was one of the most successful easy listening artists on the "Billboard" magazine album chart, placing 30 albums on their "Billboard" Hot 200 charts to 1973.


title: Ray Conniff

text: A special version of the song "Happiness Is" was recorded for use in a TV commercial for Kent cigarettes, prior to the ban on TV advertising of tobacco products.


title: Ray Conniff

text: Since many radio stations in the US adopt a format change to Christmas music each December, many holiday hits have an annual spike in popularity during the last few weeks of the year and are retired once the season is over. In December 2011, "Billboard" began a Holiday Songs chart with 50 positions that monitors the last five weeks of each year to "rank the top holiday hits of all eras using the same methodology as the Hot 100, blending streaming, airplay, and sales data", and in 2013 the number of positions on the chart was doubled, resulting in the Holiday 100. Two recordings by Conniff and The Singers have made appearances on the Holiday 100 and are noted below according to the holiday season in which they charted there.


title: 9M120 Ataka

text: The 9M120 "Ataka (; "Attack") is an anti-tank guided missile (ATGM) originating from the Soviet Union. The NATO reporting name of the 9M120 missile is the AT-9 "Spiral-2. It is the next major generation in the 9K114 Shturm (AT-6 Spiral) family. The missile has radio command guidance and is also a beam riding SACLOS. This missile's primary variant was designed to defeat tanks with composite armour and explosive reactive armor. The 9M120 Ataka system is often confused with the 9K121 Vikhr system, despite being different weapons systems developed by different companies. The former was designed by the KBM machine-building design bureau and manufactured by the Degtyarev plant. According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, Russia exported the Ataka ATGM to Iran, Kazakhstan, and Slovenia.


title: 9M120 Ataka

text: The 9M120 missile was developed by the Kolomna engineering design bureau, located in Kolomna. This company already designed previous ATGMs, such as the 9M14 Malyutka and 9M114 Kokon missiles. The design work began in the mid 1980s. The Ataka ATGM was designed as a successor model to and a further development of the 9K114 Shturm, which was introduced in the late 1970s. Compared to its predecessor, the AT-9 is more resistant to electronic countermeasures, and has a greater hit accuracy and longer reach. The newly developed warhead allows for increased penetration power and effectiveness against explosive reactive armor. The first units were delivered in 1985 to the Soviet armed forces.


title: 9M120 Ataka

text: The missile has often been confused in the West with the 9A4172 Vikhr dual-purpose laser beam riding missile used on the Kamov helicopters and Sukhoi attack aircraft (as well as some Ukrainian Mi-24/35 upgrades). These systems are completely unrelated in their design and are in fierce competition. New light multifunctional guided missiles with increased range – up to 25 kilometers – have been developed and received for Russian attack helicopters on the outcomes of the military operation in Syria.


title: 9M120 Ataka

text: The Ataka missile is stored in a glass reinforced plastic tube, which also acts as its launcher. The missile is reported to be considerably faster than the 9K114 Shturm, with longer range than the original version. It still uses radio command guidance, but the system has been improved when compared to the earlier 9K114 Shturm.


title: 9M120 Ataka

text: The system is carried by the multiple kinds of helicopters including the Mi-28 and Mi-35. It is also offered for ground vehicles like the BMPT and the 9P149.


title: 9M120 Ataka

text: There are three main missiles that are compatible with the launch system. The first is a two-stage anti-armour weapon that features a tandem warhead for dealing with add-on armor. The second variant of the missile – designated as 9M120F – has a thermobaric warhead for use against infantry positions and bunkers. The third variant of the 9M120 Ataka is the 9M220, which features a proximity fused expanding rod warhead, providing the missile with Surface-to-Air capability against low- and slow-flying aircraft.


title: Harold Bride

text: Harold Sydney Bride (11 January 1890 – 29 April 1956) was a British merchant seaman and the junior wireless officer on the ocean liner RMS "Titanic" during its ill-fated maiden voyage.


title: Harold Bride

text: After the "Titanic" struck an iceberg at 11:40 pm 14 April 1912, Bride and his senior colleague Jack Phillips were responsible for relaying CQD messages (later SOS at Captain Edward Smith's urging) to ships in the vicinity, which led to the survivors being picked up by the RMS "Carpathia". The men remained at their posts until the ship's power was almost completely out. Bride was washed off the ship as the boat deck flooded, but managed to scramble onto the upturned lifeboat Collapsible 'B', and was rescued by the "Carpathia" later in the morning. Despite being injured, he helped Harold Cottam, the "Carpathia"<nowiki>'s</nowiki> wireless operator and a personal friend of his, transmit survivor lists and personal messages from the ship.


title: Harold Bride

text: Harold Bride was born in Nunhead, London, England, in 1890 to Arthur Bride and Mary Ann Lowe. The youngest of five children, Bride lived with his family in Bromley. After primary school Bride decided he wanted to become a wireless operator and he worked in his family's business to help pay for training. He completed training for the Marconi Company in July 1911. Working for Marconi, his first sea assignment as a wireless operator was on the "SS Haverford"; later he worked on the "Beaverford", the "LaFrance", the "Lusitania", and the "Anselm".


title: Harold Bride

text: In 1912 Harold Bride joined the crew of the RMS "Titanic" as the junior wireless operator and assistant to Jack Phillips at Belfast, Ireland. Stories have appeared that Bride knew Phillips before the "Titanic", but Bride insisted that they had never met before Belfast. The "Titanic" left on her maiden voyage to New York City from Southampton, England, on 10 April. During the voyage, Bride and Phillips worked from the wireless room on the Boat Deck, sending out passengers' personal messages and receiving iceberg warnings from other ships. On 11 April, a day after the ship set sail, Phillips and Bride had celebrated Phillips' 25th birthday, with pastries brought from the first class dining room.


title: Harold Bride

text: On the evening of 14 April 1912 Bride had gone to bed early in preparation to relieve Jack Phillips at midnight, two hours earlier than normal. The wireless had not been working earlier and Phillips was busy catching up on a backlog of passengers' personal messages being sent to Cape Race, Newfoundland.


title: Harold Bride

text: The "Titanic" hit the iceberg at 11:40 pm that night and began sinking. Bride woke up shortly after and asked Phillips what was happening. Phillips said they struck something; Bride acknowledged Phillips and began to get ready to go on duty. Captain Edward Smith soon came into the wireless room alerting Bride and Phillips to be ready to send out a distress signal. Shortly after midnight he came in and told them to request help and gave them the ship's position.


title: Harold Bride

text: Jack Phillips sent out CQD while Bride took messages to the Captain about which ships were coming to the "Titanic" assistance. However, the closest ship to respond, the RMS "Carpathia", would not reach the "Titanic" until after she sank. At one point Bride reminded Phillips that the new code was SOS and jokingly said, "Send SOS, it's the new call, and it may be your last chance to send it." Later Phillips took a quick break and Bride took over the wireless. Phillips soon returned to the wireless room reporting that the forward part of the ship was flooded and that they should put on more clothes and life vests. Bride began to get dressed while Phillips went back to work on the wireless machine.


title: Harold Bride

text: The wireless power was almost out when Captain Smith arrived and told the men that they had done their duty and that they were relieved. Phillips continued working while Bride gathered some money and personal belongings. Bride later remembered being moved by the way Phillips continued working. When his back was turned a crew member had sneaked in and was taking Phillips' life vest. Bride, outraged at the man's behaviour, attacked the man and might have hit him with an object. The water was beginning to flood the wireless room as they both ran out of the wireless room, leaving the motionless crewman where he fell. Bride thought the man was "a stoker, or someone from below decks". Bride wrote later: "I did my duty. I hope I finished [the man]. I don't know. We left him on the cabin floor of the radio room, and he was not moving." The men then split up, Bride heading forward and Phillips heading aft. This was the last time Bride saw Phillips. Bride began helping remove one of the last two lifeboats, Collapsible B, off the roof of the officers' quarters. The crew was unable to launch the boat before it was washed off the deck upside down. Bride was also washed off the deck and found himself beneath the overturned boat. He swam out from under and climbed onto the boat, on which he and fifteen other men were able to survive, although the collapsible was waterlogged and slowly sinking. Bride and the others on B were later assisted into other lifeboats and were eventually taken aboard the RMS "Carpathia".


title: Harold Bride

text: On the "Carpathia", the seriously injured Bride rested, and later helped the "Carpathia"<nowiki>'s</nowiki> wireless operator, Harold Cottam, send out the large number of personal messages from the survivors. According to "Encyclopedia Titanica": "Incidentally, Bride and Cottam had met before the disaster and were good friends. After the tragedy they stayed in contact for many years."


title: Harold Bride

text: Bride, who had to be carried off the "Carpathia" because of injuries to his feet (one was badly sprained, the other foot frostbitten), was met in New York City by Guglielmo Marconi and "The New York Times", which gave Bride $1,000 for his exclusive story, "Thrilling Story by Titanic's Surviving Wireless Man". Bride later gave testimony in the American and British inquiries into the "Titanic" disaster, describing what iceberg warnings had been received and what had happened the night of the disaster.


title: Harold Bride

text: In the American Inquiry, Bride was also questioned about ignoring requests for information, while on the "Carpathia", from the press and the U.S. Navy, which wanted to know the fate of President Taft's personal friend and aide, Archibald Butt. Bride stated that priority was given to personal messages and survivor lists over answering questions from the press and claimed that the Navy did not understand British Morse signals, which the Navy denied. The Marconi Company was accused of secretly setting up the "New York Times" interview with Bride and telling him and Harold Cottam to keep quiet until they arrived in New York, but Marconi denied the accusations. This matter was not pursued, and Bride was considered one of the heroes of the disaster.


title: Harold Bride

text: Despite being a key witness in the inquiries, Bride kept a low profile after the sinking. Before "Titanic", on 16 March 1912, he became engaged to Mabel Ludlow, but he broke off the engagement in September when he met Lucy Downie, whom he married on 10 April 1920. In August 1912, London via Melbourne, records show Bride being aboard the SS "Medina" as a Marconi Operator. During World War I, Bride served as the wireless operator on the steamship "Mona’s Isle", and in 1922 he and Lucy moved to Glasgow, where Bride became a salesman. They had three children: Lucy in 1921, John in 1924 and Jeanette in 1929.


title: Harold Bride

text: Bride died aged 66 of lung cancer on 29 April 1956 in Glasgow. His body was cremated at Glasgow, and his ashes were scattered in the garden of the crematorium's chapel.


title: Carl Anthony Payne II

text: Carl Anthony Payne II (born May 24, 1969) is an American actor. He is known for his roles as Cole Brown on the FOX sitcom "Martin" and Walter "Cockroach" Bradley on the NBC sitcom "The Cosby Show", Carl on "Rock Me Baby" (TV series), Curtis on the sitcom "George Lopez" (2002–2003), and as Myles Wilson on "Tyler Perry's Young Dylan".


title: Carl Anthony Payne II

text: Payne studied acting at the First All Children's Theater, an off-Broadway repertory theatre company. He graduated from Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts in New York and Howard University.


title: Carl Anthony Payne II

text: Carl Payne is known for his role as Cole Brown on the FOX sitcom "Martin" and his recurring role as Theo Huxtable's best friend Cockroach on the NBC sitcom "The Cosby Show".


title: Carl Anthony Payne II

text: Payne played Reynaldo St. James on the BET series "The Game". He directed and produced music videos, web series and short films, all while continuing to tour the country as a stand up comic. He even starred in the series For Richer or For Poorer, whose stars were LeToya Luckett and Rockmond Dunbar.


title: Cube Zero

text: Cube Zero is a 2004 Canadian science fiction psychological horror film written and directed by Ernie Barbarash. It is the third and final film in the "Cube" trilogy and a prequel to the first "Cube" film.


title: Cube Zero

text: The first two films take place almost entirely within the Cube maze, and "Cube Zero" is set in both its interior and exterior. It reverts to the industrial-designed, colored rooms of the first "Cube", but with a refreshed and redesigned set.


title: Cube Zero

text: Ryjkin is a man trying to escape from the Cube. Upon entering a trapped room, he is sprayed with a mysterious liquid that he fears is acid only to find it sweet tasting, thinking it is flavored water, desperately drinking it to quench his thirst. However he discovers to his horror it is a potent molecular base that melts his entire body after a few minutes, killing him.


title: Cube Zero

text: The rooms in the Cube are being monitored from a remote observation room by two technicians, Eric Wynn and Dodd, who are unaware of who their employers are. The pair regularly play chess during work, whereupon Wynn demonstrates mental calculator abilities which he uses to predict Dodd's moves.


title: Cube Zero

text: Wynn and Dodd are ordered to record the dream of a subject, Cassandra Rains. In her dream, Wynn sees Rains captured while walking in a forest with her daughter. Rains wakes up in the Cube and meets the other occupants: Robert Haskell, Jellico, Meyerhold and Bartok. Haskell has the same tattoo on his forehead as the soldier who captured Rains. However, Haskell, like everyone else, only knows his own name and has no recollection of his former life or how he got there. According to what Wynn and Dodd know, everyone in the Cube faced a death sentence and volunteered to partake in psychological experiments instead. Rains's consent form, however, is not found in her file. The captives venture through the Cube, testing each room for traps by throwing a boot in first. Bartok, Jellico, and Meyerhold are all killed by various traps, leaving Rains and Haskell as the sole survivors.


title: Cube Zero

text: A phone call from their superiors instructs Wynn and Dodd to perform an "exit procedure" for Owen, a former colleague of theirs and now a test subject, who has reached one of the exits of the Cube. The procedure fails after Owen answers no to a question - whether or not he believes in God - prompting Dodd to push a "no" button which causes Owen to be instantly incinerated. According to Dodd, no one has ever answered positively. Wynn concludes that the Cube is inhumane and people are being placed in it against their will, therefore decides to enter the Cube himself and rescue Rains: he enters an elevator that communicates with a Cube entrance and eventually joins Rains and Haskell.


title: Cube Zero

text: Dodd is joined in the observation room by his supervisor Jax and two of his analysts, who have learned of the incident. Jax has the Cube occupants trapped in one room, then electrifies the walls to electrocute them. Dodd relents and secretly sabotages the control panels servicing the Cube. This shuts down every trap and initiates a "reset mode", which gives the prisoners ten minutes to escape the Cube as its rooms return to their initial positions, before a sterilization procedure vaporizes everything inside. Jax discovers Dodd's betrayal and kills him, then he activates Haskell's sleeper agent through a chip implanted in him. Haskell becomes hostile towards his companions, who struggle to continue their escape and leave him behind. They reach an exit to find Haskell waiting for them. In the ensuing struggle, Wynn and Rains manage to jump into the auxiliary exit right as the sterilization procedure starts, vaporizing Haskell.


title: Cube Zero

text: Wynn and Rains swim through water and emerge in a lake. They run through a forest similar to the one seen in Rains's dream, while being chased by soldiers. Wynn is hit by a tranquilizer dart and recaptured, allowing Rains to escape. He wakes up in a surgery room, where Jax informs him that he has been sentenced for high treason, and that many years earlier he had agreed to become a test subject, despite Wynn remembering neither the trial nor signing the consent. Wynn's brain is surgically altered, and he dreams about Rains reuniting with her daughter and praising him as a superhero. Wynn is now mentally disabled, put back in the Cube, and found by its new captives. He repeatedly mentions the color of the room and that he wants to go back to a different color, similar to Kazan in the first "Cube" film.


title: Cube Zero

text: The film premiered at the Screamfest Horror Film Festival on 15 October 2004. It was released on DVD in the United States on 22 February 2005.


title: Cube Zero

text: Reviews have been mostly positive, including positive notices from JoBlo.com, AMC's Movie Guide, DVD Talk, and Bloody Disgusting, with Bloody Disgusting saying that ""Cube Zero" isn't the best of the series, but it comes close".


title: Secondary education in Japan

text: Secondary education in Japan is split into junior high schools (中学校 "chūgakkō"), which cover the seventh through ninth grade, and senior high schools (高等学校 "kōtōgakkō", abbreviated to 高校 "kōkō"), which mostly cover grades ten through twelve.


title: Secondary education in Japan

text: Lower-secondary schools cover grades seven, eight, and nine. Ages are roughly 12-15 with increased focus on academic studies. Although it is possible to leave the formal education system after completing lower secondary school and find employment, fewer than 4% did so by the late 1980s.


title: Secondary education in Japan

text: Most junior high schools in the 1980s were government-funded public schools; 5% were private schools. At ¥552,592 ($3,989 USD) per pupil, private schools had a per-student cost that was four times as high as public schools, at ¥130,828 ($934 USD).


title: Secondary education in Japan

text: The minimum number of school days in a year is 210 in Japan, compared to 180 in the United States. A significant part of the school calendar is taken up by non-academic events such as sports days and school trips.


title: Secondary education in Japan

text: Teachers often majored in the subjects they taught. Each class is assigned a homeroom teacher who doubles as counselor. Unlike elementary students, junior high school students have different teachers for different subjects. The subject teachers usually move to a new room for each 50-minute period. Usually students' lunch is provided by the school itself.


title: Secondary education in Japan

text: Instruction tends to rely on the lecture method. Teachers also use other media, such as television and radio, and there is some laboratory work. By 1989 about 45% of all public lower-secondary schools had computers, including schools that used them only for administrative purposes. Classroom organization is still based on small work groups, although no longer for reasons of discipline. Students are expected to have mastered daily routines and acceptable behavior.


title: Secondary education in Japan

text: All course contents are specified in the Course of Study for Lower-Secondary Schools. Some subjects, such as Japanese language and mathematics, are coordinated with the elementary curriculum. The curriculum covers Japanese language, English, social studies, mathematics, science, music, fine arts, industrial arts, homemaking, health, and physical education. Moral education and special activities continue to receive attention.


title: Secondary education in Japan

text: Many students participate in after-school clubs. Sports clubs, such as baseball, are especially popular among boys, while wind bands are one of the most popular clubs for girls. Football (soccer) clubs are gaining popularity. Other popular sports clubs include tennis, basketball, gymnastics, Judo and volleyball. In every sport, many games are held between schools and at the regional level, so students have opportunities to compete.


title: Secondary education in Japan

text: For cultural clubs, choir and art clubs, brass band, tea ceremony, and flower arrangement clubs are popular.


title: Secondary education in Japan

text: Some junior high schools encourage students to take academic ability tests such as the STEP Eiken for English or the Kanji kentei for Japanese.


title: Secondary education in Japan

text: Students in the highest grades of elementary, junior high, and senior high schools also take trips lasting up to several days to culturally important cities such as Kyoto and Nara, ski resorts, or other places.


title: Secondary education in Japan

text: Even though upper-secondary school is not compulsory in Japan, as of 2005 94% of all junior high school graduates entered high schools and over 95% of students graduated successfully from them.


title: Secondary education in Japan

text: To enter, students typically take an entrance examination in Japanese, mathematics, science, social studies, and English, whether it is standardized for all public high schools in the prefecture or a test created by a private high school for that school alone.


title: Secondary education in Japan

text: High schools typically begin at 8:30, when teachers meet for a five-minute meeting, followed by homeroom. Students assemble in their homerooms of an average of between 40 and 45 students each, Homeroom teachers are in charge of morning or afternoon homeroom times, about five minutes each, as well as a weekly long homeroom period.


title: Secondary education in Japan

text: There are four classes of 50 minutes each before lunch. Students go to different classrooms for physical education, laboratory classes, or other specialized courses; otherwise, teachers change classrooms instead of the students for the entire day. Students typically attend between ten and fourteen courses a year.


title: Secondary education in Japan

text: Some schools do not have their own cafeteria, so students generally eat in their homerooms instead. Unlike students in elementary and middle school, high school students do not have government-subsidized lunches. Because of this, many students bring a box lunch (bento) - from home with foods such as rice, fish, eggs, and vegetables. After lunch students have two more classes.


title: Secondary education in Japan

text: New students usually choose a club after the school year begins and only rarely change for the rest of their high school careers. Clubs meet for two hours after school every day, many times even during school vacations. These clubs are an important chance for students to make friends and learn the social etiquette and relationships like the "senpai" (senior)/"kohai" (junior) dynamic that will be important in their adult lives.


title: Secondary education in Japan

text: Traditionally Japanese students attended class on Saturdays; although education reforms from 2002 have made them no longer mandatory, many schools have begun to bring them back.


title: Secondary education in Japan

text: Schools have limited autonomy in developing their curriculum or choosing their textbooks. Instead, although the latter are written and produced in the private sector, the Ministry of Education has the final say over any and all content and materials. Typically students take three years each of mathematics, social studies, Japanese, science, and English, with additional courses including physical education, music, art, and moral studies. In particular social studies in Japan is broken down into civics, geography, Japanese history, world history, sociology, and politics/economics. There are the large number of mandatory courses, and a few number of electives.


title: Secondary education in Japan

text: Upper-secondary teachers are university graduates. Upper-secondary schools are organized into departments, and teachers specialize in their field of study although they teach a variety of courses sharing a more general discipline. Teaching depends largely on the lecture system, with the main goal of covering the curriculum. Approach and subject coverage tends to be uniform, at least in the public schools.


title: Secondary education in Japan

text: The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) recognizes a need to improve the teaching of all foreign languages, especially English. To improve instruction in spoken English, the government invites many young native speakers of English to Japan to serve as assistants to school boards and prefectures under its Japan Exchange and Teaching Program. By 2005 participants numbered over 6,000. In the last few years, several school boards in Japan have relied on ALTs (Assistant Language Teacher) from private dispatch companies.


title: Secondary education in Japan

text: As part of the movement to develop an integrated curriculum and the education reform movement of the late 1980s, the entire Course of Study for Lower-Secondary Schools was revised in 1989 and took effect in the 1992–93 school year. A main aim of the reform is to equip students with the basic knowledge needed for citizenship. In some measure, this means increased emphasis on Japanese history and culture, as well as understanding Japan as a nation and its relationships with other nations of the world. The course of study also increased elective hours, recommending that electives be chosen in light of individual student differences and with an eye toward diversification.


title: Secondary education in Japan

text: A further revision to the Fundamental Law of Education was carried out on 22 December 2006. The revised law leaves the structure of schooling basically the same but includes new emphases on respect for Japanese culture (Article 2.5), school discipline (Article 6.2), and parental responsibility (Article 10).


title: Secondary education in Japan

text: Two problems of great concern to educators and citizens began to appear at the lower-secondary level in the 1980s: bullying, which remains a major problem, and the school-refusal syndrome (toko kyohi; manifested by excessive absenteeism), which was on the rise. In 2008, there were 42,754 incidents of problematic behavior in junior high schools, according to a government survey.


title: Secondary education in Japan

text: Experts disagreed over the specific causes of these phenomena, but there is general agreement that the system offers little individualized or specialized assistance, thus contributing to disaffection among those who can not conform to its demands or who are otherwise experiencing difficulties. Another problem concerns Japanese children returning from abroad. These students, particularly if they have been overseas for extended periods, often need help in reading and writing — and in adjusting to rigid classroom demands. Even making the adjustment does not guarantee acceptance. Besides having acquired a foreign language, many of these students have also acquired foreign customs of speech, dress, and behavior that mark them as different.


title: Secondary education in Japan

text: The upper-secondary curriculum underwent thorough revision in 1989. That year a new Course of Study for Upper-Secondary Schools was announced that was to be phased in beginning with the tenth grade in 1994, followed by the eleventh grade in 1995 and the twelfth grade in 1996. Among noteworthy changes is the requirement that male and female students take a course in home economics. The government is concerned with instilling in all students an awareness of the importance of family life, the roles and responsibilities of family members, the concept of cooperation within the family, and the role of the family in society. The family continues to be an extremely important part of the social infrastructure, and the ministry clearly is interested in maintaining family stability within a changing society. Another change of note was the division of the old social studies course into "history-and-geography" and "civics" courses.


title: Spinal fusion

text: Spinal fusion, also called spondylodesis or spondylosyndesis, is a neurosurgical or orthopedic surgical technique that joins two or more vertebrae. This procedure can be performed at any level in the spine (cervical, thoracic, or lumbar) and prevents any movement between the fused vertebrae. There are many types of spinal fusion and each technique involves using bone grafting—either from the patient (autograft), donor (allograft), or artificial bone substitutes—to help the bones heal together. Additional hardware (screws, plates, or cages) is often used to hold the bones in place while the graft fuses the two vertebrae together. The placement of hardware can be guided by fluoroscopy, navigation systems, or robotics.


title: Spinal fusion

text: Spinal fusion is most commonly performed to relieve the pain and pressure from mechanical pain of the vertebrae or on the spinal cord that results when a disc (cartilage between two vertebrae) wears out (degenerative disc disease). It is also used as a backup procedure for total disc replacement surgery (intervertebral disc arthroplasty), in case patient anatomy prevents replacement of the disc. Other common pathological conditions that are treated by spinal fusion include spinal stenosis, spondylolisthesis, spondylosis, spinal fractures, scoliosis, and kyphosis.


title: Spinal fusion

text: Like any surgery, complications may include infection, blood loss, and nerve damage. Fusion also changes the normal motion of the spine and results in more stress on the vertebrae above and below the fused segments. As a result, long-term complications include degeneration at these adjacent spine segments.


title: Spinal fusion

text: Spinal fusion can be used to treat a variety of conditions affecting any level of the spine—lumbar, cervical and thoracic. In general, spinal fusion is performed to decompress and stabilize the spine. The greatest benefit appears to be in spondylolisthesis, while evidence is less good for spinal stenosis.


title: Spinal fusion

text: The most common cause of pressure on the spinal cord/nerves is degenerative disc disease. Other common causes include disc herniation, spinal stenosis, trauma, and spinal tumors. Spinal stenosis results from bony growths (osteophytes) or thickened ligaments that cause narrowing of the spinal canal over time. This causes leg pain with increased activity, a condition called neurogenic claudication. Pressure on the nerves as they exit the spinal cord (radiculopathy) causes pain in the area where the nerves originated (leg for lumbar pathology, arm for cervical pathology). In severe cases, this pressure can cause neurologic deficits, like numbness, tingling, bowel/bladder dysfunction, and paralysis.


title: Spinal fusion

text: Lumbar and cervical spinal fusions are more commonly performed than thoracic fusions. Degeneration happens more frequently at these levels due to increased motion and stress. The thoracic spine is more immobile, so most fusions are performed due to trauma or deformities like scoliosis, kyphosis, and lordosis.


title: Spinal fusion

text: Bone morphogenetic protein (rhBMP) should not be routinely used in any type of anterior cervical spine fusion, such as with anterior cervical discectomy and fusion. There are reports of this therapy causing soft tissue swelling, which in turn can cause life-threatening complications due to difficulty swallowing and pressure on the respiratory tract.


title: Spinal fusion

text: According to a report by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), approximately 488,000 spinal fusions were performed during U.S. hospital stays in 2011 (a rate of 15.7 stays per 10,000 population), which accounted for 3.1% of all operating room procedures. This was a 70 percent growth in procedures from 2001. Lumbar fusions are the most common type of fusion performed ~ 210,000 per year. 24,000 thoracic fusions and 157,000 cervical fusions are performed each year.


title: Spinal fusion

text: Although spinal fusion surgery is widely performed, there is limited evidence for its effectiveness for several common medical conditions. For example, in a randomized controlled trial of people with spinal stenosis, after 2 and 5 years there was no significant clinical benefits of lumbar fusion in combination with decompression surgery, in comparison to decompression surgery alone. This Swedish study, including 247 patients enrolled from 2006 to 2012, further found increased medical costs for those who received the fusion surgery, as a result of increased surgery time, hospital stay duration, and cost of the implant.


title: Spinal fusion

text: Additionally, a 2009 systematic review on surgery for lower back pain found that for nonradicular low back pain with degenerative disk disease, there was no benefit in health outcomes (improvement in pain or function) of performing fusion surgery in comparison to intensive rehabilitation including cognitive-behavioral treatment. Similarly, researchers in Washington State viewed lumbar fusion surgery to have questionable medical benefit, increased costs and increased risks, in comparison to intensive pain programs for chronic low back pain with degenerative disk disease.


title: Spinal fusion

text: There are many types of spinal fusion techniques. Each technique varies depending on the level of the spine and the location of the compressed spinal cord/nerves. After the spine is decompressed, bone graft or artificial bone substitute is packed between the vertebrae to help them heal together. In general, fusions are done either on the anterior (stomach), posterior (back), or both sides of the spine. Today, most fusions are supplemented with hardware (screws, plates, rods) because they have been shown to have higher union rates than non-instrumented fusions. Minimally invasive techniques are also becoming more popular. These techniques use advanced image guidance systems to insert rods/screws into the spine through smaller incisions, allowing for less muscle damage, blood loss, infections, pain, and length of stay in the hospital. The following list gives examples of common types of fusion techniques performed at each level of the spine:


title: Spinal fusion

text: Spinal fusion is a high risk surgery and complications can be serious, including death. In general, there is a higher risk of complications in older people with elevated body mass index (BMI), other medical problems, poor nutrition and nerve symptoms (numbness, weakness, bowel/bladder issues) before surgery. Complications also depend on the type/extent of spinal fusion surgery performed. There are three main time periods where complications typically occur:


title: Spinal fusion

text: Recovery following spinal fusion is extremely variable, depending on individual surgeon's preference and the type of procedure performed. The average length of hospital stay for spinal fusions is 3.7 days. Some patients can go home the same day if they undergo a simple cervical spinal fusion at an outpatient surgery center. Minimally invasive surgeries are also significantly reducing the amount of time spent in the hospital. Recovery typically involves both restriction of certain activities and rehabilitation training. Restrictions following surgery largely depend on surgeon preference. A typical timeline for common restrictions after a lumbar fusion surgery are listed below:


title: Spinal fusion

text: Rehabilitation after spinal fusion is not mandatory. There is some evidence that it improves functional status and low back pain so some surgeons may recommend it.


title: Spinal fusion

text: According to a report by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), approximately 488,000 spinal fusions were performed during U.S. hospital stays in 2011 (a rate of 15.7 stays per 10,000 population), which accounted for 3.1% of all operating room procedures.


title: Spinal fusion

text: In 2019, WTOL released an investigation titled "Surgical implants raising contamination concerns", uncovering dossier of scientific evidences that current methods of processing and handling spinal implants are extremely unhygienic and lacks quality control. This lack of quality control is exposing patients to high risk of infection, which themselves are under-reported given the long time frame (0–7 years) and hence lack of follow up data on the patients undergoing spine surgery. A petition has been filed by the lead investigator of this discovery, Aakash Agarwal, to rectify this global public health hazard of implanting contaminated spinal devices in patients.


title: TPS report

text: A TPS report ("test procedure specification") is a document used by a quality assurance group or individual, particularly in software engineering, that describes the testing procedures and the testing process.


title: TPS report

text: The official definition and creation is provided by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) as follows:


title: TPS report

text: Its use in popular culture increased after the comedic 1999 film "Office Space". In the movie, multiple managers and coworkers inquire about an error that protagonist Peter Gibbons (played by Ron Livingston) makes in omitting a cover sheet to send with his "TPS reports". It is used by Gibbons as an example that he has eight different bosses to whom he directly reports. According to the film's writer and director Mike Judge, the abbreviation stood for "Test Program Set" in the movie.


title: TPS report

text: After "Office Space", "TPS report" has come to connote pointless, mindless paperwork, and an example of "literacy practices" in the work environment that are "meaningless exercises imposed upon employees by an inept and uncaring management" and "relentlessly mundane and enervating".


title: TPS report

text: In "King of the Hill" (also produced by Mike Judge) Kahn is being chewed out, then remarks to his boss "No sir, I filed my TPS report yesterday."


title: TPS report

text: The 2015 puzzle video game "Please, Don't Touch Anything" featured the question "What is a TPS Report?" as one of many hidden clues that lead to a unique ending.


title: TPS report

text: In "Lost" season 1, episode 4, John Locke's boss says "Locke, I told you I need those TPS reports done by noon today."


title: TPS report

text: In "Ralph Breaks the Internet", a TPS report is visibly hanging in one of the cubicles seen during Ralph's viral video montage. However, it was incorrectly placed in a cubicle in the accounting department, where TPS reports are not functionally relevant.


title: TPS report

text: In "Borderlands 2", a legendary weapon is named the "Conference Call" with a flavor text description of "We need to talk about your DPS reports", parodying the corporate term by replacing it with a common gaming abbreviation.


title: TPS report

text: In "The Mandalorian", TPS reports are mentioned in the episode "" as work to do by the character Migs Mayfeld when attempting to avoid an imperial officer, in a reference to "Office Space".


title: TPS report

text: The TV series The Family Man features a scene in series 2, episode 1 in which the manager of the protagonist asks him to "start thinking about your TPS reports!", in amongst other apparent references to Office Space.


title: TPS report

text: In the NCIS episode "Starting Over", Gary Cole's Agent Parker mentions his least favorite paperwork being TPS reports. When McGee corrects him telling him they're "TBS reports", he says, "Ah, old habits, weird", then takes a sip of coffee, paying homage to his Office Space character, Bill Lumbergh.


title: TPS report

text: In Season 4, Episode 10 of Rescue Me (“High”), Janet Gavin starts a new job and hands off a TPS report at the beginning of the scene.


title: TPS report

text: In Season 2, during the first segment of the 28th Episode of "Puppy Dog Pals" titled "Take Your Dog To Work Day", while Bingo and Rolly are playing office, Bingo says "One sec Rolly, these TPS reports aren't gonna fix themselves."


The People's Liberation Army Special Operations Forces () are the special forces of the People's Liberation Army (PLA), excluding the paramilitary People’s Armed Police (PAP) of The People’s Republic of China. The forces intended combat role is to be rapid-response units in the event of a limited regional war under high-tech conditions. They also carry out commando, counter-terrorism, and intelligence gathering operations.


title: People's Liberation Army Special Operations Forces

text: The building up of China's special forces represents a shift in the country's operational thinking, from an army-dominated force structure to emphasizing integrated joint operations, with a flexible elite force.


text: The PLA's interest in modern special warfare was first noted in the mid-1980s when it was shifting its military stance from a "people's war" to "fighting a local war under hi-tech conditions." The PLA planners believed that the next war would be a short, fast-paced conflict on the periphery rather than a total war on Chinese territory, and that conventional infantry-orientated ground forces would no longer meet their requirements. Additionally, the PLA's combat experience from the 1979 and 1980s border conflicts with Vietnam, where Vietnamese special forces caused substantial trouble to the Chinese forces, demonstrated the value of special units.


text: On 23 December 2008, their first publicly known mission was to accompany three Chinese warships in protecting and escorting commercial ships against Somali pirates, in cooperation with other nations as part of a UN mandate.


text: The special operations forces of PLA are under the administration of different branches of the military.


text: In the PLA Ground Force, each army group has its own special warfare brigade (特战旅/特战团). PLAGF Special Warfare units are similar to the US 75th Ranger Regiment in that they do not have the civil affairs and psychological warfare capabilities that the US Army Special Operations Command has.


text: The Chinese Naval special operations force is a sub-branch of the PLA Navy Marine Corps. Units include the Marine Amphibious Reconnaissance Battalions/Regiments (海军陆战队两栖侦查营/团) and the Jiaolong Assault Team (or Sea Dragon Commandos, 蛟龙突击队), a unit similar to US Navy SEALs and US Marine Raiders.


text: The PLA Air Force has its own special operations force with airborne capability, which is a part of PLA Air Force's airborne troops, the Leishen (Thundergod) Commando Airborne Force (雷神突击队).


text: The PLA Rocket Force has a special forces unit called "Blade Commandos" (利刃突击队), it is specialized in special reconnaissance and facility protection operations. The unit can provide intelligence gathering and special protection capabilities for the Rocket Force.


text: The PLA Strategic Support Force also has special operations capable unit named "Counter-Terrorism Assault Unit"(战略支援部队反恐突击) in case a facility of the PLASSF is under terrorist attack.


text: The national-level counter-terrorist special operations units of China are six special forces units of the paramilitary People's Armed Police. These units are Falcon Commando Unit (猎鹰突击队, formerly called PAP Special Police College or SPC, Special Police of China), Snow Leopard Commando Unit (雪豹突击队 or 武警北京总队第13支队), Mountain Counter-Terror Battalion (山地反恐大队), the Oversea Protection Unit (海外警卫大队) and two Special Warfare Regiments. After the reform and reorganization of the PAP structure, the names of these units might be changed.


text: Most weapons used by Chinese SOF are made domestically, but there are foreign weapons in the inventory of PLA and PAP Special Operations Forces.


text: Norinco QBZ-95B-1 carbine: the compact version of QBZ-95-1, used by PLAN Marines and PAP Falcon Commandos.


text: Norinco QBZ-191 assault rifle: conventional layout assault rifle, new standard service rifle using replacing QBZ-95 for the PLA and PAP forces.


text: Norinco QBZ-56C carbine: compact version of the Type 56 assault rifle (Chinese copy of AK-47/AKM), being phased out.


text: Norinco CQ Type-A carbine: Chinese copy of M4A1 carbine. Used by PAP personnel in the 2017 Annual Warrior Competition in Amman, Jordan.


text: Norinco QTS-11 individual integrated combat system: an OICW type weapon, used by Jiaolong Assault Team members.


title: God's Son (album)

text: God's Son is the sixth studio album by American rapper Nas. It was released on December 13, 2002, by Ill Will and Columbia Records. Production took place during 2001 to 2002, and was handled by several producers, including Salaam Remi, Chucky Thompson, Ron Browz, Eminem, and The Alchemist. Partly inspired by Nas' feud with Jay-Z and the death of his mother in early 2002, "God's Son" covers lyrical themes such as religion, violence, and his own emotional experiences. It has been recognised by critics as some of Nas' most personal work.


title: God's Son (album)

text: The album debuted at number 18 on the US "Billboard" 200, selling 156,000 copies in its first week of sales. It produced three singles that achieved "Billboard" chart success, and received critical acclaim, with critics praising Nas' lyricism and viewing it as progression from his previous work. On January 14, 2003, the album was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for sales surpassing one million copies.


title: God's Son (album)

text: Nas's debut album, "Illmatic" (1994), received much critical acclaim, but his next few releases were considered to have been more commercial, which received criticism. Fellow New York rapper Jay-Z dissed Nas on "Takeover". Nas responded with "Ether," elevating a heated feud. "Ether" was released on 2001's "Stillmatic", an acclaimed album that signaled Nas' return to "hip-Hop prominence." Jay-Z later challenged Nas to a pay-per-view Rap battle, but Nas rejected, and said: "Pay-per-view is for wrestlers and boxers. I make records. If Jay-Z wants to battle, he should drop his album the same day I do and let the people decide" referring to "God's Son" and Jay-Z's "" release.


title: God's Son (album)

text: After the release of "Stillmatic", Nas spent time tending to his ill mother, Ann Jones, until she died of breast cancer in April 2002. Nas has described Jay-Z's disses during this time period as "sneak attack[s]" because Nas did not want to record music while his mother was sick. Nas' mother died in his arms, and later served as inspiration for various songs on "God's Son". At the time, Nas was nearing the end of his feud with Jay-Z, which also inspired the album's emotional and personal material. During 2002, fans and critics speculated that Nas was still willing to make commercial music as he started associating himself with artists from Murder Inc., a label distributing mainstream hip Hop/Rap. Irv Gotti claimed that Nas might sign with him, and he said: "I will definitely be affiliated [with Nas] and I'll definitely be a part of [his projects], me and my brother Ja Rule." Nas soon appeared on "The Pledge (Remix)," a song by Ja Rule in which Nas hints at signing with the hip hop label.


title: God's Son (album)

text: By October, "God's Son" was expected to be released on December 17, with production from Salaam Remi, Large Professor and The Alchemist, as well as songs recorded with Ja Rule in Miami. Around the same time, a music video for the single "Made You Look" was being shot. In December, Nas appeared in the video for a 2Pac single, "Thugz Mansion (N.Y.)," a song of which an alternative version was later released on "God's Son", featuring two verses from Nas and one from 2Pac. On December 4, Nas decided to push up the release date for "God's Son" by a few days in order to prevent bootlegging. Commenting on this, he said, ""God's Son" is my most personal album and I poured my heart and spirit into it[.] It's important to me that the fans hear my album the way I intended. When you buy a bootleg or pirate a download off the Net, you don't get the real thing. The sound sucks, the sequencing is wrong, you're probably missing some tracks, and you don't even get the artwork and CD bonuses."


title: God's Son (album)

text: "God's Son" featured production from various producers, including Salaam Remi, Eminem and Alchemist. Remi produced 5 tracks while all other producers work on 2 or less tracks. Music critic Serena Kim of "Vibe" magazine supports Nas' use of a variety of commercially risky producers saying, "The risks he takes with the production are a big part of the allure of "God's Son". In a time when a Neptunes beat is as essential as a savvy marketing plan, Nas goes in the other direction, giving producer Salaam Remi plenty of room." "Get Down" is a funky rework of "The Boss" and "Funky Drummer" by James Brown, while "Last Real Nigga Alive" contains a simplistic beat dominated by eerie keys that seem to be made by a Casio keyboard. Remi samples many genres of music from classical (Beethoven's "Für Elise" in "I Can") to deep funk (Incredible Bongo Band's "Apache" in "Made You Look") while other producers do not rely on samples at all. "Dance," a Chucky Thompson production, contains a simple beat consisting of a bass guitar riff and faint drums, neither of which are sampled. Another track that is notable for its lack of sampling is "Thugz Mansion (N.Y.)." Produced by Claudio Cueni and Michael Herring, it contains a beat consisting solely of an acoustic guitar riff. Brett Berliner of "Stylus Magazine" described the sound of "Made You Look" as old-school influenced and "trunk-rattling", while he wrote that "Dance", a plea by Nas for one more day with his recently passed mother, features production that "sounds straight out of 1995 and a Hootie and the Blowfish album." Berliner summed up the album's diverse productions, stating:


title: God's Son (album)

text: Although there is no actual musical band or ensemble for "God's Son", various musicians play instruments on it; Mercedes Abal plays the flute, Jeff Bass plays the keyboards, Olu Dara plays the horns and Michael Herring plays the guitar.


title: God's Son (album)

text: Although guest appearances are made by Kelis, Alicia Keys, and others, "God's Son" is considered to be a personal album, in which he covers lyrical themes of his own emotional experiences The personal lyrics are a result of Nas' mother dying less than a year before the album's release. He dedicates "Dance" to his mom, and references her in "Warrior Song" and "Last Real Nigga Alive." "Dance" is considered to be one of Nas' most introspective tracks, and has been described as "a requiem for Nas' mother" that "is touching rather than mawkish." Nas' lyrics also deal with religion as the album's title conveys. He ponders the concept of heaven on "Heaven", and makes various biblical references to describe himself on "The Cross". Even with similar themes, each track is distinct from the rest providing "God's Son" with a "narrative sense". One noteworthy concept track is "Book of Rhymes" where Nas raps songs that he had written in his rhyme book years ago. At times, he stops rapping, and starts commenting on how bad some of his lyrics are amongst other things. According to one writer, "The self-examination that inevitably accompanies the death of a loved one has also provoked a renewed sense of socio-political consciousness in Nas."


title: God's Son (album)

text: "Made You Look" was released as the first single for "God's Son" on February 12, 2003. It was produced by Salaam Remi and samples "Apache" performed by Incredible Bongo Band. Jason Birchmeier of AllMusic claims that the first single on "God's Son" "announces Nas' periodic return with fury and bombast" and is a "Marley Marl-fashioned track." Jon Robinson of IGN.com claims that "Made You Look" shows Nas' "lyrical genius." Additionally, Ethan Brown of "New York Magazine", says it to be "extraordinarily powerful." It was the second most successful single for "God's Son" reaching at number 32 on the "Billboard" Hot 100. It reached at number 16 and number 47 in "Singles of the Year" lists from "Blender" magazine and Pitchfork, respectively. "Q" magazine also ranked it as the 903rd best song ever in 2003, and "Blender" followed suit, ranking it as the 185th best song from the 1980s to the 2000s in 2005.


title: God's Son (album)

text: The second and most successful single, "I Can", was released as early as March 4, 2003, internationally. It boasts production from Salaam Remi, who samples from "Für Elise" by Ludwig van Beethoven and "Impeach the President" by The Honey Drippers for the song's beat. Its lyrics are positive, encouraging the youth to stay drug-free, and pursue their dreams. The lyrics also detail various events in African history, but Christian Hoard of "Rolling Stone" magazine labels "I Can" as "a silly stay-in-school ad attached to a Beethoven sample." This comment may be attributed to the "singsongy" call and response chorus featuring the voices of young children. Other reviewers appreciated "I Can" more: Jon Robinson of IGN.com claims that on his second single, "Nas delivers some of his most inspiring lyrics to date." "I Can" received significant commercial success, reaching #12 on the "Billboard" Hot 100 and #7 on the Rhythmic Top 40 charts.


title: God's Son (album)

text: The third and final single, "Get Down" was released in July 2003. Produced by Salaam Remi and Nas, it samples James Brown's "The Boss", the percussion from James Brown's "Funky Drummer" and "Rock Creek Park" by The Blackbyrds. Its lyrics detail 3 loosely described criminal stories from different locations. The first story takes place in New York City, New York, where an alleged criminal steals the gun of a court officer, and starts shooting. The 2nd story deals with cocaine dealers from Tennessee who provide Nas with a laced blunt. The final story takes place in Los Angeles where Nas goes to a violent funeral in Crenshaw with his cousin, and later kills 3 people. The stories are linked together by a speech from Salaam Remi that implies that black people will never "get up" if they "get down" in crime. Christian Hoard of "Rolling Stone" considers "Get Down" to be the best song on "God's Son", as does columnist Serena Kim of "Vibe". The single was not a significant commercial success, and it failed to reach the "Billboard" Hot 100 chart.


title: God's Son (album)

text: "God's Son" was released to acclaim from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 81, based on 18 reviews. AllMusic and IGN place it below "Illmatic" and "Stillmatic". Despite calling the production "lukewarm", Pitchfork's Sam Chennault lauded Nas' verbal ability, describing him as "technically stunning" as an emcee, as well as "rhythmically versatile and intellectually astute." Chennault also compared "God's Son" to Nas' debut album, writing that the former has more emotional depth than "Illmatic", and stating "In many ways, "God's Son" is lyrically superior to "Illmatic". Nas has created an album that is at once mournful and resilient, street-savvy and academic." Serena Kim of "Vibe" gave the album a 4 out of 5 disc-rating and stated "He's disarmingly self-deprecating here, and gives us a rare look into his artistic process". Ethan Brown of "New York" praised Nas' lyricism and found its musically significant, stating: