title: Trolltunga

text: Popularity of the hike to Trolltunga and rock formation itself has exploded in recent years. The increased popularity has turned Trolltunga into a national icon and a major tourist attraction for the region. Until 2010, fewer than 800 people hiked to Trolltunga each year. In 2016 more than 80,000 people hiked the round-trip from the village of Skjeggedal, making it one of Norway's most popular hikes.


title: Trolltunga

text: This is a very challenging hike, at least 10 hours on rough terrain. There are no shelters on the hike route and no places to buy supplies. However, there is a plan to build a lodge roughly halfway where hikers can rest.


title: Trolltunga

text: The cliff is part of the Precambrian bedrock and was formed during the Ice Age, approximately 10,000 years ago, when the edges of the glacier reached the cliff. The water from the glacier froze in the crevices of the mountain and eventually broke off large, angular blocks, which were later carried away with the glacier. Along the cliff itself, a gneiss, there continues to be deep cracks. The trail to Trolltunga also passes through the bedrock and washed slippery hillsides in the background also containing gneiss.


title: Trolltunga

text: Trolltunga is located from the town of Odda. The city of Bergen, is about from the site via main roads.


title: Trolltunga

text: The trailhead is located by a small parking area with toilet facilities at Skjeggedal, about from Norwegian National Road 13 in Tyssedalen, near the dam at the end of Ringedalsvatnet. Parking costs per day for the lower car park ("approx. 62 USD" "or 52 EUR").


title: Trolltunga

text: The hike from the parking area to Trolltunga and back again is a round-trip distance with a gain in elevation, and it takes approximately 10–12 hours, including breaks.


title: Trolltunga

text: Near the parking area at Skjeggedal there is a funicular called "Mågelibanen" (it is not in operation). The trail to Trolltunga begins here, on the left side of the funicular. It is marked with red Ts painted in the terrain, and signs along the route that marks the distance left to Trolltunga and to the starting point at Skjeggedal.


title: Trolltunga

text: For the first , up to the Måglitopp, the trail rises about . From here the track surfaces slightly out before it gets steep again, rising another up from Gryteskaret to Trombåskåret. This section is the steepest part on this hike. But in recent years this section have been improved by Nepalese sherpas, making it easier to traverse.


title: Trolltunga

text: After this steep climb from the parking area, the next section slopes down towards Store Floren. The trail continues over Hesteflåene and the dried out river Endåno, before it gets steeper up to Endanuten and crosses the dried river to Tyssestrengene. From here the trail goes on past glacial potholes, then continues past Tysshøl, and finally approaches Trolltunga, about from the starting point at Skjeggedal.


title: Trolltunga

text: In 2017, a new toll road up the steep hillside to Mågelitopp opened to the public. It allows vehicles to access the plateau at Måglitopp. It does not require a 4x4 vehicle. Due to limited parking the maximum capacity here is 30 cars per day. The road opens each day during the season at 6:00 AM, and closes when the first 30 cars have entered the gate. Online reservations are possible and parking here costs The road is also open to hikers, as an alternative to the regular starting point at Skjeggedal.


title: Trolltunga

text: The route to Trolltunga goes through high mountain terrain with creeks, streams, boulders, mud puddles, marshes, and water at several spots on the hike.


title: Trolltunga

text: From late-September to June the terrain is normally covered with ice and snow. After a hard winter it can be snow at Trolltunga even during the summer season.


title: Trolltunga

text: Trolltunga is accessible for experienced hikers and guided groups from mid-June to mid-September, depending on when the snow melts in the Spring. The season for guided trips with snowshoes or skis starts in March.


title: Trolltunga

text: Trolltunga is located in a region with a mild and humid coastal climate. During summer and autumn the weather conditions often change quickly – from blue sky to wind, rain and dense fog. Check the weather forecast and ask locals about what kind of weather to expect before you go hiking.


title: Trolltunga

text: Due to the long distance, hikers to Trolltunga need to start before 10:00 AM in the summer season to get home before it gets dark and cold. In September it is recommended to start 8:00 AM at latest, since it gets darker earlier in the evening.


title: Trolltunga

text: The Norwegian Trekking Association classify the hike as "challenging", requiring good endurance as well as proper hiking boots and equipment.


title: Trolltunga

text: Thousands of tourists visit Trolltunga during the four summer months, a number which has greatly increased from 500 per year to 80,000 between 2009 and 2016. No safety railing has been constructed on the edge of the cliff so as not to harm the natural beauty of the cliff, although a few small metal hooks have been installed as footholds to climb down to the rock.


title: Trolltunga

text: On 5 September 2015, a 24-year-old Australian woman fell to her death off Trolltunga. It is believed to be the first recorded death from a fall there.


title: Trolltunga

text: There are widely publicised photos of people hanging off the cliff or doing a hand stand on it. Most often they are manipulated. The elite climber Magnus Midtbø suspended himself from Trolltunga wearing a safety harness, but a version where the rope was erased has been spread in media.


title: Trolltunga

text: The approach to and retreat from Trolltunga is a demanding hike, and 10–12 hours are needed for the round trip. In later years there have been up to 40 rescue actions annually. Surprisingly not because of the dangerous cliff, but due to the demanding hike back to Tyssedal. People get lost in fog or get injured during the hike or don't have the endurance for such a demanding hike.


title: Trolltunga

text: It is planned to build a lodge halfway between Trolltunga and Tyssedal, which will provide accommodation for hikers en route from Trolltunga.


title: Trolltunga

text: The cliff overlooks the valleys of the Hardanger region. The mountains surrounding the cliff reach heights of up to 1500 meters. Some of the hilltops have plains which are interspersed with lakes. Patches of snow are present in some areas, even in the summer months. Due to heavy use by tourists, the trail to Trolltunga quickly turns to mud after a rain in the summer.


title: Kim Sung-oh

text: Kim Sung-oh (born September 15, 1978) is a South Korean actor. He is best known for his supporting roles in the television series "Secret Garden" and the film "The Man from Nowhere". He was married in December 2014 to a non-entertainment person They have a son, Kim Ah-il (김아일).


title: Trial of Yolanda Saldívar

text: State of Texas v. Yolanda Saldívar was a criminal trial held at the Harris County Criminal Courthouse in Downtown Houston, in the U.S. state of Texas. The trial began with the jury's swearing-in on October 9, through opening statements on October 12, to a verdict on October 23, 1995. Former nurse Yolanda Saldívar was tried on one count of first-degree murder after the shooting death of American Tejano music singer Selena on March 31, 1995, after which she held police and the FBI Crisis Negotiation Unit at bay for almost ten hours. The case has been described as the most important trial for the Hispanic population and was compared to the O. J. Simpson murder trial by media outlets. It was one of the most publicly followed trials in the history of the state of Texas.


title: Trial of Yolanda Saldívar

text: On April 3, Saldívar was arraigned and pleaded not guilty; saying that the shooting was accidental and that she had intended to commit suicide. Judge Mike Westergren, who presided over the case, appointed high-profile defense attorney Douglas Tinker and his team to appear for Saldívar. The public criticized prosecutor Carlos Valdez as an inexperienced criminal lawyer. The prosecution argued against the motion of change of venue from Corpus Christi, Texas, to Houston, while the defense believed that Selena's high-profile status in her hometown might result in a biased jury.


title: Trial of Yolanda Saldívar

text: The prosecution team called between forty-five and fifty witnesses including: Selena's father and manager of her music career Abraham Quintanilla Jr., Selena's widower Chris Pérez, employees at Selena Etc. and at the Days Inn motel where the shooting occurred, a paramedic, several gun experts, the owners of the gun shop where Saldívar purchased the gun, emergency personnel, and Lloyd White who performed the autopsy. The defense team called fewer witnesses including: Saldívar's parents, former co-workers, motel staff at the Days Inn, Selena's former seventh-grade teacher, and the lead murder investigator. The evidence used in the trial included the gun used to kill Selena, the outfit Saldívar wore the day she claimed she was sexually assaulted, and the recorded conversations between FBI negotiators Larry Young and Issac Valencia, and Saldívar.


title: Trial of Yolanda Saldívar

text: The jury convicted Saldívar of first-degree murder after a two-hour deliberation, and she was sentenced to a maximum of life imprisonment with no eligibility for parole until March 2025. Fans outside the courtroom cheered the verdict. Many were seen expressing their delight at the outcome to Saldívar's parents and some wore T-shirts degrading to their daughter. There were more than two hundred accredited media representatives at the courthouse. The trial generated interest in Spain, the Philippines, Europe, South America, Australia and Japan. Tinker announced an appeal but it was denied by Westergren both in 1998 and 1999. Valdez published a book about the trial entitled: "Justice for Selena: The State vs. Yolanda Saldívar" in 2004. As of December 2014, Saldívar was representing herself in an attempt to be released from prison, claiming that some witnesses were not called during the trial, and that evidence went missing following the trial.


title: Trial of Yolanda Saldívar

text: Saldívar, an in-home nurse for terminal cancer patients, was a fan of country music. However, she did enjoy Shelly Lares, a Tejano music artist, and disliked Selena for dominating award categories Saldívar's favorite musician was nominated in. In 1992, her niece persuaded her to go to a Selena concert in her hometown of San Antonio, Texas. Saldívar became a fan and decided to form a fan club promoting Selena. She contacted the singer's father and manager Abraham Quintanilla, Jr. seeking permission to start one.


title: Trial of Yolanda Saldívar

text: After a meeting with Quintanilla, Jr., he agreed to Saldívar's request, and she became the founder, and acting president, of the Selena fan club. In January 1994, Selena opened two boutiques in Texas, one in Corpus Christi, the other in San Antonio. Because of her touring schedule, she was unable to run the businesses and decided to appoint Saldívar as manager, since Quintanilla, Jr. believed she was the perfect choice, having successfully filled the role as president of the fan club for three years.


title: Trial of Yolanda Saldívar

text: The singer began receiving complaints from employees, her fashion designer, and her cousin about Saldívar's management skills. They claimed that Saldívar mismanaged Selena's affairs, manipulated their decisions, destroyed their creations, intimidated and threatened them, and secretly recorded them without their consent or knowledge. Selena did not believe Saldívar, now a close friend, would impose on her fashion business. Quintanilla, Jr. began receiving complaints after the initial attempts to have Saldívar fired from her job failed. He tried convincing Selena that Saldívar might be a bad influence on her. She brushed aside the comments since her father always mistrusted people.


title: Trial of Yolanda Saldívar

text: In January 1995, Quintanilla, Jr. began receiving letters and phone calls from angry fans who had sent their enrollment fees for the fan club and received nothing. He began an investigation and found that Saldívar had used forged checks to embezzle $30,000 from both the fan club and the boutiques. On March 9, 1995, the Quintanilla family held a meeting to discuss the disappearing funds. Saldívar's answers to Quintanilla, Jr.'s questions were not convincing, and he informed her that if she could not disprove his accusations that he would get the police involved.


title: Trial of Yolanda Saldívar

text: The day after being confronted by the Quintanilla family, Saldívar was banned from contacting Selena. Saldívar purchased a .38 Special revolver but lied to the clerk about her intentions claiming she was a nurse whose patients' relatives had threatened her life. Saldívar convinced Selena to meet her alone at her Days Inn motel room on March 31, 1995. In the motel room, Selena demanded financial papers required for tax preparation. Saldívar delayed handing over the papers claiming that she had been raped during a recent Mexico trip. Selena drove Saldívar to Doctors Regional Hospital but doctors only did a routine exam, not confirming if a rape had occurred.


title: Trial of Yolanda Saldívar

text: When they returned to the motel room, Selena emptied Saldívar's satchel which was filled with documents relating to the boutiques and fan club as well as the .38 revolver. Saldívar grabbed the gun and pointed it at Selena. As Selena attempted to flee, Saldívar shot her in the back, severing an artery. Critically wounded, Selena ran to the motel's lobby and collapsed on the floor, naming Saldívar as her assailant, and giving the room number where she had been shot. Her condition began to deteriorate rapidly as motel staff attended to her. Selena was pronounced dead at 1:05 p.m. from loss of blood and cardiac arrest.


title: Trial of Yolanda Saldívar

text: After the shooting, Saldívar got into her pickup truck and attempted to leave the motel. Rosario Garza, a motel staff member, saw Saldívar leave her room with a wrapped towel. It was later thought that she had been on her way to Q-Productions to shoot Quintanilla, Jr., and others waiting for Selena to arrive for a planned recording session. However, she was spotted by a responding police officer. An officer emerged from the cruiser, drew his gun, and ordered Saldívar to get out of the truck. Saldívar did not comply. Instead, she backed up and parked adjacent to two cars; her truck was then blocked by the police cruiser. Saldívar picked up the pistol, pointed it at her right temple, and threatened to commit suicide. A SWAT team, and the FBI Crisis Negotiation Unit, were brought in. Musicologist Himilce Novas commented that the event was reminiscent of O. J. Simpson's threatened suicide ten months earlier.


title: Trial of Yolanda Saldívar

text: Larry Young and Isaac Valencia began negotiating with Saldívar. They ran a phone line to their base of operations, adjacent to Saldívar's pickup truck, as the standoff continued. Motel guests were ordered to remain in their rooms until police could escort them out. Saldívar surrendered after nearly nine-and-a-half hours. By that time, hundreds of fans had gathered at the scene; many wept as police took Saldívar away. Within hours of Selena's murder, a press conference was held. Assistant Police Chief Ken Bung and Quintanilla, Jr., informed the press that a possible motive was that Selena had gone to the Days Inn motel to terminate "her" employment; Saldívar was still not identified by name in media reports. Rudy Treviño, director of the Texas Talent Music Association, and sponsor of the Tejano Music Awards, declared that March 31, 1995, would be known as "Black Friday".


title: Trial of Yolanda Saldívar

text: On April 3, Saldívar was arraigned and pleaded not guilty to Selena's murder. Her bail was set at $100,000 though it was raised to $500,000 at the behest of district attorney Carlos Valdez who considered Saldívar to be a flight risk. When bail was announced, people asked why the death penalty had not been sought. The Nueces County jail was deluged with death threats and there were public calls for vigilante justice. Some gang members in Texas were reported to have taken up collections to raise the bond for Saldívar so they could kill her when she was released.


title: Trial of Yolanda Saldívar

text: Veteran CCPD detective Paul Rivera led the murder investigation. Originally, an unnamed man was hired to defend Saldívar but withdrew from the case on April 4 fearing community retaliation, and concerned about his children's reaction when they learned he was defending Saldívar whom they disliked. Judge Mike Westergren began searching for a defense attorney. Prosecutor Carlos Valdez was designated lead prosecutor, while Mark Skurka was appointed his legal counsel. On April 6, a grand jury was called to determine whether to indict Saldívar for murder. After about an hour, the jury had returned a true bill and the indictment was randomly assigned to the 214th District Court. Carlos Valdez believed that a speedy trial with Westergren presiding over the case was probable.


title: Trial of Yolanda Saldívar

text: Douglas Tinker, a 30-year veteran attorney, was assigned to defend Saldívar. Tinker was called one of the best criminal defense lawyers in the state of Texas, and was estimated by Richard Haynes, also a Texas criminal defense attorney, to be worth $50 million. His wife, fearful that they would suffer from community retribution, asked Tinker not to take the case. Arnold Garcia, a former district prosecutor, was chosen by Tinker as his co-counsel. The judge honored Tinker's request for a private investigator. The court date was originally set for August 17, but, for unknown reasons, was pushed back two months to October 9. On May 18, Tinker and Valdez argued about the possibility of reducing Saldívar's bond to $10,000.


title: Trial of Yolanda Saldívar

text: Tinker argued that she should not be in prison since she had not yet been found guilty of murder and deserved to be out on bail. Valdez argued that Saldívar was a flight risk, with contacts in Mexico, and, were she to be released from prison, it was unlikely she would be seen again. Saldívar's parents, siblings, and former co-workers argued that she had no financial resources to make bond, and that she was incapable of the actions of which she was accused. Valdez called Rivera to the stand. He claimed that Saldívar had developed several foreign contacts as a result of working for Selena. Rivera also brought up the ongoing investigation of the embezzlement claims, stating that Saldívar might have access to funds that the investigation had not yet uncovered. Westergren denied the bond reduction, and Saldívar was returned to jail.


title: Trial of Yolanda Saldívar

text: After the May 18 ruling, Westergren decided to move the case to Houston, Texas. His decision was based upon the demographics of predominantly Hispanic Nueces County, citing a preponderance of people who viewed Selena as a "well known and beloved member of the Hispanic population." During the time of trial, Houston was predominately White. On August 4, the pretrial hearing began as Tinker filed three motions; a change of venue to Houston (which was pre-approved), a motion to suppress or exclude Saldívar's written statement, and a motion to suppress or exclude Saldívar's oral statements made at the time of her arrest. Tinker presented twelve witnesses: a former district judge, a former district attorney, a former first assistant district attorney, several private lawyers, and members of the media.


title: Trial of Yolanda Saldívar

text: They all expressed concern that Saldívar could not have an impartial jury because of the overwhelming media coverage. A Spanish-language radio personality informed the judge that the general consensus among Hispanics in the area was that Saldívar was guilty and that she would be acquitted because of the "faulty" juridical system, and Valdez's lack of experience. The judge recessed the hearing and Valdez scrambled to find witnesses who believed that an unbiased jury could be selected were the trial to be held in Corpus Christi. The hearing resumed on August 7, and Valdez presented five witnesses who believed that Saldívar could have a fair trial despite the media coverage. The following day, Westergren granted the motion to change the venue to Houston, Texas.


title: Trial of Yolanda Saldívar

text: The selection of jury members was completed on October 9. The jury included seven white Americans, four Hispanics, and one African American. Westergren ordered that the trial would neither be televised nor taped and limited the number of reporters in the courtroom to avoid a "repeat of the Simpson circus". The trial began on October 11. In his opening statement, Valdez claimed that Saldívar "deliberately killed Selena", calling the act "senseless and cowardly" because Selena had been shot in the back. Valdez called the incident a "simple case of murder".


title: Trial of Yolanda Saldívar

text: Tinker opened his statement as though he was "describing a mystery movie" calling Quintanilla, Jr. a "controlling and dominating father, ambitious for power and money." His removal of Selena from school to sing in nightclubs and bars served "the sole purpose of making money." He infringed on his family's privacy by demanding that they live in a compound so that he could watch their every move. Tinker asserted that Selena wanted to be independent and "break from her father's control" by operating her own business. According to Tinker, after Saldívar fired the gun, she "ran after her friend to help her" by getting her into her pickup truck. He claimed that Quintanilla, Jr. called Saldívar a "lesbian obsessed" with Selena. Tinker ended his opening statement saying that Quintanilla, Jr. drove Saldívar "to near madness" by threatening to destroy her friendship with Selena.


title: Trial of Yolanda Saldívar

text: The prosecutor's first witness was Quintanilla, Jr. Valdez asked if he had had sexual relations with, or raped, Saldívar. He also asked him if he ever called Saldívar a lesbian. Quintanilla, Jr. said "no." Valdez then asking him about the alleged theft. Quintanilla, Jr. told the court that Saldívar was a thief. Valdez then called Chris Pérez, Selena's widower, who testified that he and Selena had stopped trusting Saldívar long before the crime was committed. Kyle Voss and Mike McDonald from A Place to Shoot, the store where Saldívar had purchased the gun, testified that they had instructed her on the proper use of the gun. They also said that she had returned the gun two days after originally purchasing it claiming that her father had given her a pistol. She returned eleven days later to repurchase the gun.


title: Trial of Yolanda Saldívar

text: On October 12, Valdez called Trinidad Espinoza to the stand. He testified that he saw Saldívar pointing a gun while running after Selena. Saldívar then stopped, lowered the gun, and walked back into her motel room displaying no emotion. After hearing this testimony, Marcella Quintanilla (Selena's mother) experienced chest and arm pains and was hospitalized to treat a sudden rise in her blood pressure. Motel maid Norma Marie Martinez also described the same events as Espinoza, but added that Saldívar had called Selena a "bitch". Tinker asked Martinez to indicate where she had been on a diagram of the scene of the crime. He believed that Martinez could not have seen or heard anything because she was a considerable distance from the vicinity of the shooting.


title: Trial of Yolanda Saldívar

text: Emergency room personnel, who attended to Saldívar when Selena drove her to the hospital to be checked for rape, claimed that Saldívar had lied to Selena about the rape as there were inconsistencies between the story she told them and the one she told Selena. Tinker asked the nurse to describe Saldívar's mood at that time. She replied that the Saldívar showed symptoms of depression. Tinker asked if those symptoms were typically found in a victim of sexual assault. The nurse agreed they were. Another nurse who attended to Saldívar stated that she had red welts on her neck and arms, but that they did not resemble the bruises a person would receive from an assault by a baseball bat as Saldívar claimed.


title: Trial of Yolanda Saldívar

text: The prosecutor showed the jury the outfit Saldívar had worn during her alleged rape. He claimed that someone had purposefully torn holes and shredded the shirt with scissors. On October 13, Rosalinda Gonzalez, the assistant manager of the Days Inn, was called to testify. She told the jury that when Selena arrived in the lobby after being shot, she had asked the singer who shot her. Selena cried out "the girl in room 158". Ruben DeLeon, the motel's salesman, said that Selena told him "Yolanda, Yolanda Saldívar shot me. The one in room 158." Receptionist Shawna Vela testified that she had heard the same statements but added that Selena had screamed: "lock the door, she'll shoot me again" before collapsing. Vela told the jury that there was so much blood that she felt nauseous before calling 911. The last person to be called to testify was paramedic Richard Fredrickson who described, in detail, Selena's condition and a mysterious ring she clutched in her hands. The Quintanilla family were seen sobbing as Fredrickson detailed his attempts to save Selena's life, while Saldívar "stared blankly".


title: Trial of Yolanda Saldívar

text: The trial resumed on Monday, October 16 with the playing of the recorded negotiations between the FBI Crisis Negotiation Unit and Saldívar. The tape began with Saldívar stating how badly she wanted to die. During the conversation, the jury heard Larry Young try to persuade her to lower her gun; Saldívar said that she could not do so. Young told her that by committing suicide she would only harm her parents. Saldívar then asked to contact her mother to say goodbye and ask for forgiveness. She continued repeating, "I just wanna die" as Young began talking about religion to determine if she believed in a faith that might cause her to reconsider suicide.


title: Trial of Yolanda Saldívar

text: Young told Saldívar that if she would give herself up, he would place a jacket over her so that the media would not have a picture of her face during her surrender. Isaac Valencia told Saldívar that if she were to surrender they promised to turn off all of the lights that were pointing towards her truck; she agreed. As she left her truck, she was scared by the dozens of armed police and FBI agents who were pointing rifles and pistols at her. She ran back to her truck, pointed the gun at her head, and screamed at Young: "They're carrying guns! They're carrying guns! They're going to kill me! They're going to kill me!" Newswoman María Celeste Arrarás wrote in her 1997 investigative book that she found it "curious" that a person who cried for hours that she wanted to die "would be afraid that someone might make her wish come true." "The New York Times" also commented that "she alternately begged to be killed and expressed fear that she would be killed if she left the truck."


title: Trial of Yolanda Saldívar

text: As the taped conversation continued, the jury heard Saldívar's reaction to the news of Selena's death after her phone picked up a local radio station's signal. In an angry voice, Saldívar asked Young why he had kept the singer's condition from her, since she wanted to visit Selena at the hospital, believing she was still alive. Young told Saldívar not to believe the radio announcement, and that he did not know about Selena's current condition. The conversation then switched to Saldívar blaming Quintanilla, Jr. for the murder, claiming that he threatened to kill her. She explained to Young that she bought the gun for protection after finding her car tires deliberately slashed. She also told him how Quintanilla, Jr. sexually abused her by "sticking a knife" in her vagina, threatening to murder her if she went to the police. When asked about what happened in her motel room, Saldívar exclaimed: "I bought this gun to kill myself, not her, and she told me, 'Yolanda, I don't want you to kill yourself.' And we were talking about that when I took it out and pointed it to my head, and when I pointed it to my head, she opened the door. I said 'Selena, close that door,' and when I did that gun went off."


title: Trial of Yolanda Saldívar

text: The prosecution then told the jury that comments by some officers had planted the idea in Saldívar's head that the shooting was accidental. The defense countered stating that although she did not use the word "accident", she did not mean to harm Selena. John Houston, a police officer who was present during the standoff, was asked during the nine and a half hours that Saldívar held the gun to her head, how many times it "went off"; he said "none". The trial resumed on October 18. Robert Garza, a Texas Ranger, told the jury that during the preliminary hearings in Corpus Christi, he witnessed Saldívar making gestures indicating that the shooting had been accidental, though she had not indicated this in her confession.


title: Trial of Yolanda Saldívar

text: The defense called Rivera to the stand and explained to the jury that Rivera had a conflict of interest after finding out that he had a poster of Selena hanging on his wall and was treated to a Selena T-shirt by Quintanilla, Jr. Tinker explained to the jury that the confession was signed by an exhausted, sleep deprived Saldívar after eleven hours of questioning and being denied water, food, and use of a bathroom. Tinker asked Rivera why he destroyed his notes, and why he had not recorded his interrogation of Saldívar, had not provided her with a lawyer as the law requires, and had not allowed her to see her relatives after signing her confession. A few days later, the Mexican Mafia sent Tinker a signed postcard declaring their intention to harm him and his family for defending Saldívar.


title: Trial of Yolanda Saldívar

text: On October 19, the defense called the two surgeons who tried to revive Selena at the hospital. The defense questioned why Quintanilla, Jr. would request that a blood transfusion not to be performed on Selena due to his religious beliefs, when by law, Pérez would have the final say whether or not the procedure would be performed. The autopsy pictures of Selena were displayed for everyone to see. The white American jury member was affected by the pictures, and was seen "bursting into tears" as Lloyd White described his findings in detail. According to Arrarás, Saldívar was seen as "impassive"; she had "lowered her head" when the autopsy pictures were shown.


title: Trial of Yolanda Saldívar

text: After confirming that Selena was not pregnant, contradicting rumors in media reports, White announced his conclusion: "this was a homicide, not an accident." The prosecution called on a firearms expert who found the gun to be in working condition and stating that a person pulling the trigger must use a "great amount of pressure". Valdez showed pictures of the motel room where Selena had been shot, claiming, "It was impossible for [Saldívar] not know her friend had been wounded," and "this meant that she had not come to [Selena's] aid because she chose not to."


title: Trial of Yolanda Saldívar

text: The defense arguments began on October 20 with Barbra Schultz, the hotel's general manager, taking the stand. Tinker asked if Selena had actually screamed out to them to lock the doors. She replied that Selena had never asked for the doors to be locked and was only moaning on the floor. Schultz further stated that her former employee, Vela, was not trustworthy. Schultz also said that all the employees began formulating different opinions on what happened on March 31 when the prosecution called on them to testify. Staff maid Gloria Magaña doubted the validity of Espinoza and Martinez's accounts. She told the jury that it was impossible for both employees to have seen Saldívar chasing Selena because their work was on the other side of the motel building.


title: Trial of Yolanda Saldívar

text: Magaña claimed to have seen Selena running through the parking lot, but did not see Saldívar chasing after her. Tinker called Marilyn Greer, Selena's seventh grade teacher, to the stand. She told the jury that Selena had had the ability to graduate with honors and could have easily obtained a college scholarship. Greer then spoke about how Quintanilla, Jr. had taken away the possibility of college for Selena, wasting her youth by forcing her to sing at nightclubs and bars for money; something that was unhealthy for a thirteen-year-old girl.


title: Trial of Yolanda Saldívar

text: On October 23, the defense presented their closing arguments, claiming that the shooting was an accident and that Rivera was "not interested in pursuing justice. He wanted to make a case." They also argued that Rivera knew hours beforehand that the Saldívar case was "a big case" and had "wanted to be the one to get [her]." The defense claimed that Selena still referred to Saldívar as her "dearest friend" pointing out that the singer took her to the hospital, despite having a recording session scheduled that day. They reminded the jury that an employee demonstrated that the gun can "fire off" with "just one's little finger." The defense accused the prosecution of manipulating the jury's emotions by displaying photographs of Selena at the morgue, and the trail of blood from the motel room to the lobby. They concluded by telling the jury to not side with a "rabid father".


title: Trial of Yolanda Saldívar

text: In the prosecution's closing statement, Skurka told the jury that Selena "had been reduced to a mere picture thanks to the March 31 actions of the defendant." Skurka asked the jury why Saldívar, a nurse, did not administer first aid and why had she had not called 911 after accidentally shooting the singer in the back. Skurka then provided details of the three different stories Saldívar used to explain the purchase of the gun, as well as the different stories about her alleged rape. The prosecutor pointed out that if Saldívar had wanted to commit suicide she had ample time to do so. Valdez took out a calendar for the month of March 1995 and chronologically pointed out the events preceding the killing of Selena. According to Valdez, Saldívar hated Quintanilla, Jr. and believed that she got revenge by killing his daughter, "someone he loved the most."


title: Trial of Yolanda Saldívar

text: Saldívar's crime was punishable by either a life sentence with parole eligibility in 30 years, or a term of up to 99 years in prison and a $10,000 fine. Saldívar was kept at Nueces County jail under a suicide watch before her trial. After closing arguments, the jury deliberated for two hours and twenty-three minutes. As people were waiting for the verdict, prosecutors and the defense team signed autographs for the media as did Saldívar. Saldívar's family also signed autographs, while Quintanilla, Jr. remained in his seat awaiting the verdict. The jury found Saldívar guilty of first-degree murder. She received the maximum sentence of life in prison with parole eligibility in 30 years.


title: Trial of Yolanda Saldívar

text: Before the verdict was read, some in the crowd and Quintanilla, Jr. were skeptical of the outcome of the trial after O. J. Simpson's acquittal a week earlier. Saldívar told her defense team that she wanted to kill herself after the verdict was read. The Hispanic population cheered as Westergren delivered the verdict and Saldívar's sentence. Celebrations and festivals were planned throughout the states of Texas and California and in some areas in Mexico. Fans outside the courtroom began playing Selena's music and cheered for hours. Some fans were seen cheering in Saldívar's face as police officers drove her off to prison.


title: Trial of Yolanda Saldívar

text: Other fans prayed and cried out that justice had been served. Traffic in Texas was reportedly at a standstill as people took to the streets and highways in cheering the verdict. Saldívar's parents were greeted by fans wearing T-shirts degrading her and screams from fans who told them "now let's kill the murderer!" and "hang the witch". The verdict was front-page news in dozens of newspapers across the United States.


title: Trial of Yolanda Saldívar

text: Arrarás referred to this case as the "O. J. Simpson trial for Hispanics." It was the most watched trial in years in the state of Texas. "The Brownsville Herald" called the case: "the biggest courthouse media event to hit Houston." According to "Texas Monthly", there were more than two-hundred media personnel stationed at the courthouse. Univision and Telemundo aired approximately ninety minutes' worth of coverage daily. Arrarás was called "the trial's undisputed media star" for her coverage of the trial and her "Primer Impacto" program had the "most knowledgeable courtroom analyst" in former state district judge Jorge Rangel, who provided his expertise on the law. During the playing of the recorded conversation between Saldívar and Young in the courtroom, Saldívar called out "Where's Larry?", a mantra that was put on T-shirts sold to the crowds.


title: Trial of Yolanda Saldívar

text: The "Chicago Tribune" noted the difference in interest in the Selena murder trial between Hispanics and white Americans. Donna Dickerson, a white American magazine publisher, told the "Chicago Tribune" that she had no interest in the trial because of Selena's "Hispanic background" and noted that Mexican Americans did not show the same interest as whites when Elvis Presley was found dead. The Selena murder trial was called the "trial of the century" and the most important trial to the Hispanic population. The trial generated interest in Spain, the Philippines, Europe, South America, Australia and Japan.


title: Trial of Yolanda Saldívar

text: Tinker announced an appeal before signing autographs for the cheering crowds. On December 22, the "Houston Chronicle" reported that Saldívar's lawyers were seeking a retrial, citing the prosecution's failure to notify them that a key witness had once been convicted of theft. Maria Norma Martinez, a motel maid, was said to be the only one to have seen the shooting. She claimed to have heard Saldívar call Selena a bitch. The prosecution had used the remark to discredit the defense's claim that the shooting was accidental. Westergren denied the request and called the prosecutors' action "somewhat problematic," but decided an appeals court should decide on a retrial." Both requests for an appeal were denied on October 3, 1998 and on August 19, 1999. On November 22, 1995, Saldívar arrived at the Gatesville Unit (now the Christina Crain Unit) in Gatesville, Texas, for processing.


title: Trial of Yolanda Saldívar

text: Saldívar is currently serving her sentence at the Mountain View Unit in Gatesville, operated by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. She will be eligible for parole on March 30, 2025. Because of multiple death threats from incarcerated Selena fans, Saldívar was placed in isolation and spends twenty-three hours a day alone in her cell, away from other inmates who may want to do her harm. Saldívar has asked the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals to accept a petition that challenges her conviction. She claims the petition was filed in 2000 with the 214th District Court, but was never sent to the higher court. Her request was received on March 31, 2008, the thirteenth anniversary of Selena's death.


title: Trial of Yolanda Saldívar

text: Tinker and Garcia told a "Texas Monthly" magazine editor that losing the trial lessens their chances of getting shot by a fan. Hispanics in Texas had an increased level of trust in the state's judicial system after the verdict was read. The League of United Latin American Citizens began a campaign that encouraged Hispanics to respond to jury duty requests. E! dramatized the trial as part of an episode of "E! True Hollywood Story" in December 1996. "People" magazine called it "too cheap-looking to have any dramatic impact," but found the actor playing Tinker "interesting". By virtue of a judge's order, the gun used to kill Selena was destroyed in 2002, and the pieces thrown into Corpus Christi Bay.


title: Trial of Yolanda Saldívar

text: Fans and historians did not approve of the decision, claiming that the event was historical and that the gun should have been placed in a museum. In 1997, Arrarás published her book "Selena's Secret", which included interviews with Saldívar recounting the singer's "real life" and her side of the events of March 31. The book met with negative reviews from fans as well as Quintanilla, Jr. who claimed Arrarás sympathized with the convicted killer. Valdez also published a book on the trial, "Justice for Selena: The State vs. Yolanda Saldivar," in 2004.


title: Trial of Yolanda Saldívar

text: In December 2014, the "San Antonio Express-News" reported that Saldívar was "mounting a new legal effort to get an early release from prison, following numerous appeals in her case." The news of Saldívar's potential early release by a fake news agency which reported that Saldívar could be released as early as January 1, 2015 sparked a social media frenzy among fans. Valdez told the "San Antonio Express-News" that Saldívar is currently representing herself and that a court date has not yet been set. Saldívar claims that witnesses were not called on and files have gone missing since the end of the trial. Quintanilla, Jr. said that he "doesn't care" if Saldívar gets an early release, since "nothing is going to bring [his] daughter back." He does say that Saldívar would be safer in prison rather than being freed.


title: Nilgiris district

text: The Nilgiris district () is one of the 38 districts in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Nilgiri () is the name given to a range of mountains spread across the borders among the states of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala. The Nilgiri Hills are part of a larger mountain chain known as the Western Ghats. Their highest point is the mountain of Doddabetta, height 2,637 m. The district is contained mainly within the Nilgiri Mountains range. The administrative headquarters is located at Ooty (Ootacamud or Udhagamandalam). The district is bounded by Malappuram district of Kerala to the west, Coimbatore and Palakkad to the south, Erode to the east, and Chamarajnagar district of Karnataka and Wayanad district of Kerala to the north. As it is located at the junction of three states, namely, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Karnataka, significant Malayali and Kannadiga populations reside in the district. Nilgiris district is known for natural mines of Gold, which is also seen in the other parts of Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve extended in the neighbouring states of Karnataka and Kerala too.


title: Nilgiris district

text: Nilgiris district ranked first in a comprehensive Economic Environment index ranking districts in Tamil Nadu (except Chennai district) prepared by the Institute for Financial Management and Research in August 2009. Tea and coffee plantations have been important to its economy. As of 2011, the Nilgiris district had a population of 735,394, with a sex-ratio of 1,042 females for every 1,000 males. All types of single use plastics are banned in Nilgiris district: it is the first plastic free district in Tamil Nadu.


title: Nilgiris district

text: The history of peoples settled in the Nilgiri hills has been recorded for several centuries. The Blue Mountains were likely named for the widespread blue Strobilanthes flower or the smoky haze enveloping the area.


title: Nilgiris district

text: This area was long occupied by the indigenous tribal peoples of the Toda, Kota, Kurumba, Irula and Badagas. The Badagas were also indigenous to the district but were never a tribal group. Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups PVTGs, the dominant land owners of the tribal district. The lower Wayanad plateau in the west of the district had a different tribal population namely Kattunaika and Paniya. The Todas and Kota, who are similar in culture, language and genetic ancestry, were settled across the fringes of the Nilgiri plateau, as sentries to the Central district. They were the ancient agriculturists in the district, cultivating traditional crops such as samai, vathm, ragi. Under British influence they cultivated English vegetables and later moved on to tea.


title: Nilgiris district

text: Unlike elsewhere in the country, no historical evidence is found of a state on the Nilgiris or that it was part of any ancient kingdom or empire. It seems always to have been a tribal land. The Toda had small hamlets ("mund") across most of the plateau. The Kota lived in seven dispersed villages ("kokal"). The Toda had only a few hamlets on the lower Wynaad plateau and in the nearby Biligiriranga hills.


title: Nilgiris district

text: Since the turn of the 21st century, the Badaga have numbered about 135,000 (18% of the district population), the Toda are barely 1,500 and the Kota just over 2,000.


title: Nilgiris district

text: Beginning in 1819, the British colonial administration developed the hills rapidly and peaceably, for use as coffee and tea plantations, and summer residences. The 40 mud-forts in the area had been abandoned. During the British raj, Ooty (the popular name for Ootacamund) served as the summer capital of the Madras Presidency from 1870 onwards. District Gazetteers published by the government (1880, 1908, 1995) were reliable reports on the district, its economy, demography and culture. They with the support of political parties inimical to the natives of Nilgiris have been superseded by the "Encyclopaedia of the Nilgiri Hills" (2012) authored by China-based researcher Paul Hockings, who calls the Nilgiris his first home and holds a bias against the Badagas.


title: Nilgiris district

text: According to a 1996 bibliography of publications of this district, it is probably the most heavily studied rural area anywhere in India, with close to 7,000 items in that list. It has been the subject of more than 120 doctoral and master's theses in the natural and human sciences. Indian and foreign scholars wrote these works, and only recently have local people published work about it.


title: Nilgiris district

text: More than a dozen languages are spoken in the Nilgiris, but the indigenous people did not write or read them. After 1847 German and Swiss missionaries opened schools for boys and girls in some Badaga villages, teaching them literacy. Ten Dravidian languages are found only here, and they have been studied in great detail for decades by professional linguists. Local place names are derived mainly from the dominant Badaga language, e.g., Doddabetta, Coonoor, Kotagiri, Gudaluru, Kunda, etc. Ootacamund is of Toda origin, and Udagamandalam is a very recent Tamil-language version of this place.


title: Nilgiris district

text: Before British-owned tea and coffee plantations were developed, the dominant landholders were the Badaga. A great deal of linguistic and other cultural evidence—based on unauthentic interpretation of ballads and stories collected from unverifiable individuals—indicates erroneously with a malicious intent that the Badaga non scheduled tribes have lived in nilgiris thousands and thousands of years ago. Supposedly unnamed Badaga elders have regularly recounted these baseless facts as oral history and cannot be relied upon. Though their language is very close to Kannada, it is a mixture of almost all Dravidian languages and yet unique. The migration theory is now totally rejected by educated Badagas, as admittedly the land holdings of the district majorly indicates the Badagas as owners in almost all Taluks of the district. This land is the major resource amongst the Badagas, which even today most Badagas are ignorant about. The Badagas did not find any representation in independent India's Constituent Assembly; to deprive the unlettered Badaga of their land it was intentionally left out of the tribal list post independence. The result of this socio-economic engineering seems to be bearing fruit for the perpetrators of such engineering.


title: Nilgiris district

text: The district has been intentionally underdeveloped as it is bereft of quality healthcare facilities, universities, environment-friendly industries, affordable quality higher education and basic infrastructure. This underdevelopment has ensured the Badagas need to go outside the district to survive. Certain vested interest have invested in researchers to bring about half-truths about the Badagas. Sadly, these half-truths are being relied on by the regime to deny the Badagas their rightful livelihood. During the early 17th century, the first European is recorded as entering the Nilgiri Hills, an Italian priest/explorer named Fenicio. He interviewed people who identified as Toda and Badega, the latter occupying three villages at that time. The British in India mostly ignored the Ghats for two centuries. Arthur Wellesley, later the Duke of Wellington, conducted a short military operation in the Wynaad in 1800.


title: Nilgiris district

text: During 1804–1818 several East India Company personnel briefly visited parts of the district. John Sullivan, then the collector of Coimbatore, just south of the Nilgiris, sent two surveyors (W. Keys and C. McMahon) to make a comprehensive study of the hills. They reached the site of Ootacamund, but failed to see the complete plateau. In 1812 they were the first British to make a cursory survey of the Nilgiri plateau and produce a map. A more detailed exploration was done in the 1818 survey by J.C. Whish, N.W. Kindersley and Mohammed Rifash Obaidullah for the Madras Civil Service, who reported back that they had discovered "the existence of a tableland possessing a European climate."


title: Nilgiris district

text: Collector Sullivan became the first European resident the next year, when he built a seasonal residence on the plateau. He reported to the Madras Government on the mildness of the climate. Europeans soon started settling here or using the plateau as a summer resort and homes for retirees. In 1870 the practice began of key government personnel moving to the hills to conduct business during summer months in this more temperate climate. By the end of the 19th century, the hills were completely accessible, as several Ghat roads and the railway line had been constructed.


title: Nilgiris district

text: In the later 19th century, when the British Straits Settlement shipped Chinese convicts to be jailed in India, some of these men were settled on the Nilgiri plateau near Naduvattam. They married Tamil Paraiyan women and had children with them. One Chinese gardener was critical to the district's future, for he worked with Margaret B. L. Cockburn in Aruvenu, near Kotagiri, to develop Allport's, the first Nilgiri tea plantation, which started operations in 1863. Her father, Montague D. Cockburn, had opened the first coffee plantation there soon after 1830.


title: Nilgiris district

text: The district has an area of 2,552.50 km. The district is basically hilly, lying at an elevation of 1,000 to 2,600 metres above MSL, and divided between the Nilgiri plateau and the lower, smaller Wayanad plateau. The district lies at the juncture of the Western Ghats and the Eastern Ghats. Its latitudinal and longitudinal location is 130 km (Latitude: 11°12 N to 11°37 N) by 185 km (Longitude : 76°30 E to 76°55 E). The district is bounded by Coimbatore and Palakkad to the south, Erode to the east, Chamarajnagar district of Karnataka and Wayanad district of Kerala to the north, and Malappuram district of Kerala to the west. In this district the topography is rolling, with steep escarpments; about 60% of the cultivable land is slopes ranging from 16° to 35°. The rolling hills of the Downs look quite similar to the Downs in southern England, and were formerly used for such activities as hunting and picnicking.


title: Nilgiris district

text: The elevation of the Nilgiris results in a much cooler and wetter climate than the surrounding plains, so the area is popular as a comfortable retreat and is good for tea cultivation. During summer the temperature reaches a maximum of and a minimum of . During winter the temperature maximum is and the minimum . The district regularly receives rain during both the Southwest Monsoon and the Northeast Monsoon. The entire Gudalur and Pandalur, Kundah Taluks and parts of Udhagamandalam Taluk get rain from the Southwest Monsoon, while part of Udhagamandalam Taluk and the entire Coonoor and Kotagiri Taluks get rains of the Northeast Monsoon. There are 16 rainfall-registering stations in the district, and the average annual rainfall of the district is 1,920.80 mm.


title: Nilgiris district

text: The principal town of the area is Ootacamund, also known as Ooty or Udhagamandalam, the district headquarters. It has several buildings designed in the British style, particularly the churches, many of which were designed by architect Robert F. Chisholm. A road junction became known as Charing Cross (after famous intersections in London and Lahore). The other main towns in the Nilgiris are Coonoor, Kotagiri, Gudalur and Wellington. Several tourist spots in Coonoor include Lambs Rock and Sims Park, where a Fruit Show is held during each summer. Ooty too has an annual summer flower show.


title: Nilgiris district

text: The Nilgiris district has been headed by a government-appointed Collector since 1868. The first was James W. Breeks, who was called Commissioner. Since then there have been more than 100 men who have held the post. They were responsible for overseeing the various Departments active within the district.


title: Nilgiris district

text: The district comprises six taluks: Udhagamandalam (Ooty/Ootacamund), Kundah, Coonoor, Kotagiri, Gudalur and Pandalur. These are divided among four panchayat unions: Udhagamandalam, Coonoor, Kotagiri and Gudalur. Besides four Municipalities of Ooty, Coonoor, Gudalur and Nelliyalam, there is a Wellington Cantonment and Aruvankadu Township.


title: Nilgiris district

text: The district consists of 56 revenue villages and 15 revenue firkas. There are three revenue divisions, Uhagamandalam Coonoor and Gudalur. For local concerns, the Nilgiris also has 35 village panchayats and 11 town panchayats.


title: Nilgiris district

text: According to the 2011 census, the Nilgiris district had a population of 735,394 with a sex-ratio of 1,042 females for every 1,000 males, much above the national average of 929 females. A total of 66,799 people were under the age of six, 33,648 males and 33,151 females. Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes accounted for 32.08% and 4.46% of the population, respectively. The average literacy of the district was 77.46%, as compared to the national average of 72.99%. The district had a total of 197,653 households. There were a total of 349,974 workers, comprising 14,592 cultivators, 71,738 agricultural labourers, 3,019 in household industries, 229,575 other workers, 31,050 marginal workers, 1,053 marginal cultivators, 7,362 marginal agricultural labourers, 876 marginal workers in household industries and 21,759 other marginal workers.


title: Nilgiris district

text: Anthropologists, who have worked intensively in this district for the past 140 years, recognise 15 tribes living here. Their origins are uncertain as there were no written records about them. The best-known of these are the Toda and Kota,


title: Nilgiris district

text: whose related cultures are based on pastoral management of the buffalo, with its dairy products being the basis of their diets. They have developed highly refined red, black and white embroidered shawls, and silver jewellery, which are GI-registered and much sought after. The district is also home to the Kurumba, Irula, Paniya and Kattunayakan or Nayaka.


title: Nilgiris district

text: The entire Nilgiris plateau and all the hilly regions above the plains (altitude higher than 500m MSL) across the Western and Eastern Ghats and the Mysore plateau fell under the Kannada speaking area as per the linguistic survey and history by Colonel Mark Wilks.


title: Nilgiris district

text: Nilgiris is arguably the most multi lingual and multicultural district in Tamil Nadu State. Tamil is the principal and most spoken language in the Nilgiris district followed by Malayalam, Badaga, Kannada, Telugu and Urdu languages. Other smaller languages include Irula, Paniya, Kurumba, Toda and Kota are also spoken here.


title: Nilgiris district

text: As per the Census of 2011, the Nilgiris district had 76.61% Hindus, 10.7% Muslims, and 12.3% Christians.


title: Nilgiris district

text: The Nagapattinam–Gudalur National Highway passes through this district. The Nilgiri Ghat Roads link Nilgiris with nearby cities in Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka. All the taluks are connected with major roads. Ooty bus stand serves as the central bus stand for the district, along with Municipal Bus Stand, Coonoor (built in 1960). Several crucial Ghat roads were cut in the 19th century. The village roads are maintained by the Panchayat Union.


title: Nilgiris district

text: The Nilgiri Mountain Railway from Mettupalayam to Udhagamandalam via Coonoor, is a great tourist attraction. It was filmed in "A Passage to India," representing the railway to the caves. It is a Swiss-designed rack railway as far as Coonoor. The railway is designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It serves many of the more heavily populated areas of the district, including Coonoor, Wellington, Aruvankadu, Ketti, Lovedale and Ooty. There is no seaport or airport in the district; the nearest airport is Coimbatore.


title: Nilgiris district

text: There are one district headquarters government hospital, five taluk hospitals, 38 primary health centres, 194 health sub-centres, and five plague circles in the district.


title: Nilgiris district

text: The Nilgiris district is basically a horticulture district. Its economy is based on commodity crops of tea, coffee, and spices, followed in importance by potato, cabbage, carrot, and fruit. The main cultivation is plantation crops such as tea and coffee, but with some cardamom, pepper and rubber too. Tea grows at elevations of 1,000 to over 2,500 metres.


title: Nilgiris district

text: The area also produces eucalyptus oil and temperate-zone vegetables. Potato and other vegetables are raised throughout Udhagamandalam and Coonoor Taluks. Paddy (rice), ginger, pepper and rubber are grown in Gudalur and Pandalur Taluks. Paddy is also grown in the Thengumarahada area in Kotagiri Taluk. Besides these crops, millet, wheat, fruit and vegetables, etc., are also cultivated throughout the district. There are no irrigation schemes here. The crops are mainly rain-fed. Check dams have been constructed wherever possible to exploit natural springs.


title: Nilgiris district

text: Two ecoregions cover portions of the Nilgiris. The South Western Ghats moist deciduous forests lie between 250 and 1000 metres' elevation. These forests extend south along the Western Ghats range to the southern tip of India, and are dominated by a diverse assemblage of trees, many of them deciduous during the winter and spring dry season. These forests are home to the largest herd of Asian elephants in India, who range from the Nilgiris across towards the Eastern Ghats. The Nilgiris and the Southwestern Ghats are also one of the most important tiger habitats left in India.


title: Nilgiris district

text: The South Western Ghats montane rain forests ecoregion covers the portion of the range above 1000 metres' elevation. These evergreen rain forests are extremely diverse. Above 1500 metres' elevation, the evergreen forests begin to give way to stunted forests, locally called "sholas", which are interspersed with open grassland The high grasslands are home to the endangered Nilgiri tahr, which resembles a stocky goat with curved horns. The Nilgiri tahrs are found only in the montane grasslands of the Southwestern Ghats, and number barely 2000 individuals.


title: Nilgiris district

text: Three national parks protect portions of the Nilgiris. Mudumalai National Park lies in the northern part of the range where Kerala, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu meet, and covers an area of 321 km. Mukurthi National Park lies in the southwest of the range, in Kerala, and covers an area of 78.5 km, which includes intact "shola"-grassland mosaic, a habitat for the Nilgiri tahr. Silent Valley National Park is just to the south and contiguous with these two parks, and covers an area of 89.52 km. Outside these parks much of the native forest has been cleared for grazing cattle, or has been encroached upon or replaced by plantations of tea, eucalyptus, cinchona and acacia. The entire range, together with portions of the Western Ghats to the northwest and southwest, was included in the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve in 1986, India's first biosphere reserve. In January 2010, the Nilgiri Declaration set out a wide range environmental and sustainable development goals to be reached by 2015.


title: Nilgiris district

text: The region has also given its name to a number of bird species, including the Nilgiri pipit, Nilgiri woodpigeon and Nilgiri blackbird.


title: Nilgiris district

text: The Nilgiris is the headquarters of various government and semi-private organizations engaged in research into horticulture, forestry, botanical sciences and physics. Listed below are a few of the most important ones:


title: Nilgiris district

text: Tourism is an important source of revenue for the Nilgiris. The district is home to several hill stations which are visited by tourists during summer. These include Ooty (Udhgamandalam) (district headquarters), Coonoor, Gudalur and Kotagiri. The Nilgiri Mountain Train, locally known as the Toy Train, attracts tourists as the journey has extensive views of the hills and forests. Mudumalai National Park is commonly visited by wildlife enthusiasts, campers and backpackers. The annual flower show, organised by the Government of Tamil Nadu at the Botanical Garden in Ooty, is an annual event, known for its display of roses. Nilgiris is known for its eucalyptus oil and tea, and also produces bauxite. Some tourists are attracted to study the lifestyles of the various tribes living here or to visit the tea and vegetable plantations. Other tourist destinations in the district are Pykara Waterfalls and the Ooty Lake, Avalanche and Doddabetta peak.


title: Earl Spencer (peerage)

text: Earl Spencer is a title in the Peerage of Great Britain that was created on 1 November 1765, along with the title Viscount Althorp, of Althorp in the County of Northampton, for John Spencer, 1st Viscount Spencer. He was a member of the prominent Spencer family and a great-grandson of the 1st Duke of Marlborough. Previously, he had been created Viscount Spencer, of Althorp in the County of Northampton, and Baron Spencer of Althorp, of Althorp in the County of Northampton, on 3 April 1761.


title: Earl Spencer (peerage)

text: The future 6th Earl Spencer was created Viscount Althorp, of Great Brington in the County of Northampton, on 19 December 1905 in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. Diana, Princess of Wales, was the youngest of three daughters of the 8th Earl Spencer. The Prince of Wales and Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex are grandsons of the 8th Earl Spencer.


title: Earl Spencer (peerage)

text: The family seat is Althorp in Northamptonshire. Their estate includes significant land holdings in other parts of the country, including the village of North Creake in Norfolk. The family also holds Spencer House in St James's, London.


title: Earl Spencer (peerage)

text: The coat of arms of the family is as follows: Quarterly argent and gules, in the second and third quarters a fret or, over all on a bend sable, three escallops of the first. The crest, emerging from the coronet, is a griffin's head argent, gorged with a bar gemelle gules between two wings expanded of the second. The supporters are: Dexter, a griffin per fess ermine and erminois, gorged with a collar sable, the edges flory-counter-flory, and chained of the last, on the collar, three escallops argent; sinister, a wyvern erect on his tail ermine, collared and chained as the griffin. The motto is "Dieu defend le droit" (French: God protect the right).


title: Earl Spencer (peerage)

text: The heir apparent is the present holder's son Louis Frederick John Spencer, Viscount Althorp (b. 1994).


title: Earl Spencer (peerage)

text: This is a continuation of the Spencer/Spencer-Churchill family tree for the Althorp branch of the Spencers found in the Spencer family article.


title: Rachel Luttrell

text: Rachel Zawadi Luttrell (born 19 January 1971) is a Tanzanian-Canadian actress best known for her role as Teyla Emmagan, an Athosian warrior leader on "Stargate Atlantis".


title: Rachel Luttrell

text: Luttrell was born 19 January 1971, in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania, the daughter of Veronica Makihio Shenkunde Luttrell of the Washambala tribe of the Usambara Mountains, and Dr. William Leon Luttrell from Bossier City, Louisiana. She is one of four daughters. Her family emigrated to Canada when she was five years old, and she was raised in Toronto. Her family has several musical roots; her father, a former member of the critically acclaimed Toronto Mendelssohn Choir, trained Luttrell's soprano voice. She studied ballet at the Russian Academy of Classical Ballet School and also studied piano at The Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto.


title: Rachel Luttrell

text: Luttrell made her professional debuts in Canada's premier production of "Miss Saigon" in Toronto, and as "The Enchantress" in the Canadian production of Disney's "Beauty and the Beast". She would go on to appear in many other stage productions, such as "Once On This Island", "Goblin Market", and the premier performance of Pulitzer Prize–winning playwright Lynn Nottage's "Las Meninas".


title: Rachel Luttrell

text: Following a move to Los Angeles, Luttrell became frustrated with some of the minor roles she was offered to her at the time, and considered giving up on her acting career to enrol at the UCLA to study architecture. She ventured to the UK instead and studied at the British American Drama Association on a midsummer course at Balliol College, Oxford.


title: Rachel Luttrell

text: In 2004, Luttrell was cast in a main role as Athanosian warrior-leader Teyla Emmagan on "Stargate Atlantis". She remained in this role for 99 episodes until the end of the season five in 2009.


title: Rachel Luttrell

text: She also appeared in the Canadian movie "A Dog's Breakfast", which was directed by her "Stargate Atlantis" co-star David Hewlett.


title: Rachel Luttrell

text: In 2011 Luttrell ventured into jazz music, releasing her first album "I Wish You Love", produced by Gerrit Kinkel and featuring artists like double bass player Jennifer Leitham, Graham Dechter, and Konrad Paszkudzki, and drummer Jeff Hamilton.


title: Rachel Luttrell

text: Luttrell is married to Loyd Bateman, a former stunt performer; they have two children together, her son Caden (born 2007) and daughter Ridley (born 2012). Luttrell has two younger sisters, Erica Luttrell, who is also an actress, and Amanda Luttrell Garrigus, who is an on-air personality for fashion and entertainment. Luttrell is sometimes credited as "Rachel Z. Luttrell".


title: Ferne McCann

text: Ferne Alice McCann (born 6 August 1990) is an English model, television personality and presenter. She was a cast member of the ITVBe reality series "The Only Way Is Essex", joining in the ninth series and leaving in the eighteenth. In 2015, she participated in the fifteenth series of "I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!" and finished in third place. In early 2016, she became a regular showbiz reporter on "This Morning". Since 2017, McCann has starred in the ITVBe reality series "Ferne McCann: First Time Mum".


title: Ferne McCann

text: Before her television career, McCann was the winner of Miss Essex 2012 and in the Top 15 in Miss England in 2012.


title: Ferne McCann

text: In 2013, McCann became a regular cast member on the ITV2 (now ITVBe) reality show "The Only Way Is Essex" making her debut in the ninth series in June 2013. She quit the show in 2016 and made her last appearance in the seventeenth series. On 15 November 2015, it was confirmed that McCann would be participating in the fifteenth series of "I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!". She arrived as a late arrival alongside Vicky Pattison and Spencer Matthews. She finished in third place on 6 December. During the final, McCann had to eat a live water spider as part of a bushtucker trial, which generated nearly 1,500 complaints to Ofcom. These were later cleared in January 2016.


title: Ferne McCann

text: In March 2016, it was announced that McCann would star as Myrtle Wilson in the Union Theatre's production of "The Great Gatsby". From May 2016, McCann began making regular appearances on the Channel 5 chat-show "Up Late with Rylan" hosted by Rylan Clark-Neal. In February 2017, she began appearing in "Celebs Go Dating" on E4 alongside her "TOWIE" co-star Joey Essex and "I'm a Celebrity" campmate Jorgie Porter. As of 2017, McCann stars in the ITVBe documentary series "Ferne McCann: First Time Mum", a series about her experiences as a single mother with her child.


title: Ferne McCann

text: McCann was in a relationship with "The Only Way Is Essex" co-star Charlie Sims for six years. She was linked with George Shelley on "I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!" and praised him a few months later when he came out as bisexual in February 2016 claiming 'it was his way of taking control'. She also holds a PCV licence after completing training in an effort to encourage more female bus drivers.


title: Ferne McCann

text: In January 2019, it was reported that McCann had been questioned by police after an altercation took place at the 24th National Television Awards between "Love Island" star Adam Collard and his partner Zara McDermott. Collard later stated that he planned to release the CCTV of the incident to show that McCann was at fault.


title: Ferne McCann

text: McCann was dating former businessman and scaffolder Arthur Collins when in April 2017 he was arrested and charged in connection with a nightclub acid attack in London. Two days later, McCann announced her pregnancy and also stated her plans to raise the baby as a single parent. On 2 November 2017, she gave birth to a girl, Sunday. On 13 November 2017, Collins was found guilty of five counts of grievous bodily harm and nine of actual bodily harm at Wood Green Crown Court. On 19 December 2017, Collins was jailed for twenty years, with another five years on licence. He later admitted to smuggling a mobile phone into prison so that he could speak to her. In January 2018, it was reported that McCann had liked a photo on Instagram which called for Collins' release.


title: Ferne McCann

text: In November 2022, voice notes featuring a woman's voice were leaked anonymously, allegedly revealing McCann making derogatory comments about Arthur Collins's acid attack victims. McCann published a public apology on Instagram, apologising to "all the victims of Arthur Collins's abhorrent actions in 2017" and adding that the voice messages were "manipulated; edited and taken entirely out of context."


title: Fuel taxes in the United States

text: The United States federal excise tax on gasoline is 18.4 cents per gallon and 24.4 cents per gallon for diesel fuel. The federal tax was last raised October 1, 1993 and is not indexed to inflation, which increased 93% from 1993 until 2022. On average, , state and local taxes and fees add 34.24 cents to gasoline and 35.89 cents to diesel, for a total US volume-weighted average fuel tax of 52.64 cents per gallon for gas and 60.29 cents per gallon for diesel.


title: Fuel taxes in the United States

text: The first US state to tax fuel was Oregon and was introduced on February 25, 1919. It was a 1¢/gal tax. In the following decade, all of the US states (48 at the time), along with the District of Columbia, introduced a gasoline tax. By 1939, the many states levied an average fuel tax of 3.8¢/gal (1¢/L).


title: Fuel taxes in the United States

text: In the years since being created, state fuel taxes have undergone many revisions. While most fuel taxes were initially levied as a fixed number of cents per gallon, , nineteen states and District of Columbia have fuel taxes with rates that vary alongside changes in the price of fuel, the inflation rate, vehicle fuel-economy, or other factors.


title: Fuel taxes in the United States

text: The table below includes state and local taxes and fees. The American Petroleum Institute uses a weighted average of local taxes by population of each municipality to come up with an average tax for the entire state. Similarly, the national average is weighted by volume of fuel sold in each state. Because many of the states with the highest taxes also have higher populations, more states (i.e., the less populated ones) have below average taxes than above average taxes.


title: Fuel taxes in the United States

text: Most states exempt gasoline from general sales taxes. However, several states do collect full or partial sales tax in addition to the excise tax. Sales tax is not reflected in the rates below.


title: Fuel taxes in the United States

text: The first federal gasoline tax in the United States was created on June 6, 1932, with the enactment of the Revenue Act of 1932, which taxed 1¢/gal (0.3¢/L). Since 1993, the US federal gasoline tax has been unchanged (and not adjusted for inflation of nearly 68-77% through 2016, depending on source) at 18.4¢/gal (4.86¢/L). Unlike most other goods in the US, the price advertised (e.g., on pumps and on stations’ signs) includes all taxes, as opposed to inclusion at the point of purchase (i.e., as opposed to prices of goods in, e.g., many stores advertised on shelves without tax which is instead calculated at checkout by many vendors).


title: Fuel taxes in the United States

text: Then-Secretary of Transportation Mary Peters stated on August 15, 2007, that about 60% of federal gas taxes are used for highway and bridge construction. The remaining 40% goes to earmarked programs, including a minority for mass transit projects. However, revenues from other taxes are also used in federal transportation programs.


title: Fuel taxes in the United States

text: Federal fuel taxes raised $36.4 billion in Fiscal Year 2016, with $26.1 billion raised from gasoline taxes and $10.3 billion raised from taxes on diesel and special motor fuels. The tax was last raised in 1993 and is not indexed to inflation. Total inflation from 1993 until 2017 was 68 percent or up to 77 percent, depending on source.


title: Fuel taxes in the United States

text: Some policy advisors believe that an increased tax is needed to fund and sustain the country's transportation infrastructure, including for mass transit. As infrastructure construction costs have grown and vehicles have become more fuel efficient, the purchasing power of fixed-rate gas taxes has declined (i.e., the unchanged tax rate from 1993 provides less real money than it originally did, when adjusted for inflation). To offset this loss of purchasing power, The National Surface Transportation Infrastructure Financing Commission issued a detailed report in February 2009 recommending a 10 cent increase in the gasoline tax, a 15 cent increase in the diesel tax, and a reform tying both of these tax rates to inflation.


title: Fuel taxes in the United States

text: Critics of gas tax increases argue that much of the gas tax revenue is diverted to other government programs and debt servicing unrelated to transportation infrastructure. However, other researchers have noted that these diversions can occur in both directions and that gas taxes and "user fees" paid by drivers are not high enough to cover the full cost of road-related spending.


title: Fuel taxes in the United States

text: Some believe that an increased cost of fuel would also encourage less consumption and reduce America's dependence on foreign oil. Americans sent nearly $430 billion to other countries in 2008 for the cost of imported oil. However and especially since 2008, increased domestic output (e.g., fracking of shale and other energy resource discoveries) and rapidly increasing production efficiencies have significantly reduced such spending, and this falling trend is expected to continue.


title: Fuel taxes in the United States

text: Aviation gasoline (Avgas): The tax on aviation gasoline is $0.194 per gallon. When used in a fractional ownership program aircraft, gasoline also is subject to a surtax of $0.141 per gallon.


title: Fuel taxes in the United States

text: Kerosene for use in aviation (Jet fuel): Generally, kerosene is taxed at $0.244 per gallon unless a reduced rate applies.


title: Fuel taxes in the United States

text: For kerosene removed directly from an on-airport terminal (ramp) directly into the fuel tank of an aircraft for use in non-commercial aviation, the tax rate is $0.219. The rate of $0.219 also applies if kerosene is transported directly into any aircraft from a qualified refueler truck, tanker, or tank wagon that is loaded with the kerosene (again, when done directly on-airport, e.g., on the ramp). Notably, the airport terminal doesn't need to be a passenger carrying, secured airport terminal for this rate to apply. However, the refueling truck, tanker, or tank wagon must meet the requirements discussed later under certain refueler trucks, tankers, and tank wagons, treated as terminals.


title: Fuel taxes in the United States

text: These taxes mainly fund airport and Air Traffic Control operations by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), of which commercial aviation is the biggest user.


title: Battle of the Pyramids

text: The Battle of the Pyramids, also known as the Battle of Embabeh, was a major engagement fought on 21 July 1798, during the French Invasion of Egypt. The battle took place near the village of Embabeh, across the Nile River from Cairo, but was named by Napoleon after the Great Pyramid of Giza visible nearly 9 miles away.


title: Battle of the Pyramids

text: After capturing Alexandria and crossing the desert, the French army, led by General Napoleon Bonaparte, scored a decisive victory against the main army of the local Mamluk rulers, wiping out almost the entire Ottoman army located in Egypt. It was the first battle where Bonaparte personally devised and employed the divisional square tactic to great effect. The deployment of the French brigades into these massive rectangular formations repeatedly threw back multiple cavalry charges of the Mamluks.


title: Battle of the Pyramids

text: The victory effectively sealed the French conquest of Egypt as Murad Bey salvaged the remnants of his army, chaotically fleeing to Upper Egypt. French casualties amounted to roughly 300, but Ottoman and Mamluk casualties soared into the thousands. Napoleon entered Cairo after the battle and created a new local administration under his supervision. The battle exposed the fundamental military and political decline of the Ottoman Empire throughout the past century, especially compared to the rising power of France.


title: Battle of the Pyramids

text: After landing in Ottoman-controlled Egypt and capturing Alexandria on 2 July 1798, the French army led by General Bonaparte marched down the desert toward Cairo. They met the forces of the ruling Mamluks nine miles (15 kilometres) from the Pyramids and only four miles (6 kilometres) from Cairo. The Mamluk forces were commanded by two Georgian mamluks, Murad Bey and Ibrahim Bey, and had a force of powerful and highly trained cavalry at their command as well as fellahin militia acting as infantry.


title: Battle of the Pyramids

text: On 13 July after French scouts located Murad's encampment, Bonaparte ordered an advance toward the enemy's forces, engaging them during the brief battle of Chobrakit. After the destruction of their flagship by French field artillery the Mamluks retreated instead of engaging, the skirmish ending in a minor French victory.


title: Battle of the Pyramids

text: On 21 July, after marching all night, the French caught up with the Ottoman force in the vicinity of the village of Embabeh, after one hour rest the men were ordered to get ready for battle. Bonaparte ordered an advance on Murad's army with each of the five divisions of his army organised into hollow rectangles with cavalry and baggage at the center and cannon at the corners. Bonaparte exhorted his troops to remain steady and keep their ranks closed up when facing the Mameluke cavalry.


title: Battle of the Pyramids

text: The French divisions advanced south in echelon, with the right flank leading and the left flank protected by the Nile. From right to left, Bonaparte posted the divisions of Louis Charles Antoine Desaix, Jean-Louis-Ébénézer Reynier, Charles-François-Joseph Dugua, Honoré Vial and Louis André Bon. In addition, Desaix sent a small detachment to occupy the nearby village of Biktil, just to the west. Murad anchored his right flank on the Nile at the village of Embabeh, which was fortified and held with infantry and some ancient cannons, his left flank was anchored on the village of Biktil, where the rest of his cannons were placed there to protect from French flanking movements. His Mamluk cavalry deployed in the center, between these villages. The other Mamluk army, commanded by Ibrahim Bey, stood across the Nile and watched the events unfold, unable to cross and intervene. Murad Bey's original plan was to repulse the French attacks on his fortified flanks, and then attack their demoralized center.


title: Battle of the Pyramids

text: The Mamluks, being a force that is still largely feudal and medieval in all of its practical characteristics, including its military, were completely at odds with the modern standing French army. The majority of the Egyptian army was drafted Fellahin (peasants), its maw was the Mamluk horse. An episode during the battle that demonstrated the rift between the armies occurred when a Mamluk rider, dressed in heavy armour, rode to within only a few steps from the French lines and demanded a duel. The French responded with gunfire.


title: Battle of the Pyramids

text: Napoleon ordered Desaix's square to advance to the right (towards the Egyptian center) and the rest of his squares to the left (in the direction of Embebeh), Murad Bey saw an opportunity and ordered his defterdar Ayyub Bey to attack the French squares, at about 15:30, the Mamluk cavalry hurled itself at the French without warning. The divisional squares of Desaix, Reynier and Dugua held firm and repelled the horsemen with point-blank musket and artillery fire. Unable to make an impression on the French formations, some of the frustrated Mamluks rode off to attack Desaix's detached force. This was also a failure. Meanwhile, nearer the river, Bon's division deployed into attack columns and charged Embabeh. Breaking into the village, the French routed the garrison. Trapped against the river, many of the Mamluks and infantry tried to swim to safety, and hundreds drowned. The French reported a loss of 29 killed and 260 wounded. Murad's losses were far heavier, perhaps as many as 10,000 including 3,000 of the elite Mamluk cavalry, and his defterdar Ayyub Bey was also killed in the battle. Murad Bey himself was also wounded in the cheek with a hit from a saber. Murad escaped to Upper Egypt with his 3,000 surviving cavalry, where he carried out an active guerrilla campaign before being defeated by Desaix in late 1799.


title: Battle of the Pyramids

text: Upon hearing news of the defeat of their legendary cavalry, the waiting Mamluk armies in Cairo dispersed to Syria, Bonaparte entered the conquered capital of Egypt on 24 July. On 11 August French forces caught up with Ibrahim Bey inflicting on him a crushing defeat at Salalieh.


title: Battle of the Pyramids

text: After the Battle of Pyramids, Napoleon instituted French administration in Cairo and suppressed the subsequent rebellions violently. Although Napoleon tried to co-opt the local Egyptian "ulema", scholars like Al-Jabarti ignorant of the advances that had taken place in Europe and understanding little of France’s so-called "Republic", poured scorn on the ideas and cultural ways of the French. Despite their cordial proclamations to the natives, with some French soldiers even converting to Islam in order to take Muslim wives, clerics like Abdullah al-Sharqawi, who headed Napoleon’s Cairo government or divan, later described the French as: "‘materialist, libertine philosophers … [who] deny the resurrection, and the afterlife, and … [the] prophets" while for the French, mathematician Joseph Fourier regretted that "the Muslim religion would on no account permit the development of the mind".


title: Battle of the Pyramids

text: The Battle of the Pyramids signalled the beginning of the end of seven centuries of Mamluk rule in Egypt. Despite this auspicious beginning, British Admiral Horatio Nelson's victory in the Battle of the Nile ten days later effectively ended Napoleon's ambitions in Egypt.


title: Programmed cell death protein 1

text: Programmed cell death protein 1, also known as PD-1 and CD279 (cluster of differentiation 279), is a protein on the surface of T and B cells that has a role in regulating the immune system's response to the cells of the human body by down-regulating the immune system and promoting self-tolerance by suppressing T cell inflammatory activity. This prevents autoimmune diseases, but it can also prevent the immune system from killing cancer cells.


title: Programmed cell death protein 1

text: PD-1 is an immune checkpoint and guards against autoimmunity through two mechanisms. First, it promotes apoptosis (programmed cell death) of antigen-specific T-cells in lymph nodes. Second, it reduces apoptosis in regulatory T cells (anti-inflammatory, suppressive T cells).


title: Programmed cell death protein 1

text: PD-1 inhibitors, a new class of drugs that block PD-1, activate the immune system to attack tumors and are used to treat certain types of cancer.


title: Programmed cell death protein 1

text: The PD-1 protein in humans is encoded by the "PDCD1" gene. PD-1 is a cell surface receptor that belongs to the immunoglobulin superfamily and is expressed on T cells and pro-B cells. PD-1 binds two ligands, PD-L1 and PD-L2.


title: Programmed cell death protein 1

text: In a screen for genes involved in apoptosis, Yasumasa Ishida, Tasuku Honjo and colleagues at Kyoto University in 1992 discovered and named PD-1. In 1999, the same group demonstrated that mice where PD-1 was knocked down were prone to autoimmune disease and hence concluded that PD-1 was a negative regulator of immune responses.


title: Programmed cell death protein 1

text: PD-1 is a type I membrane protein of 288 amino acids. PD-1 is a member of the extended CD28/CTLA-4 family of T cell regulators. The protein's structure includes an extracellular IgV domain followed by a transmembrane region and an intracellular tail. The intracellular tail contains two phosphorylation sites located in an immunoreceptor tyrosine-based inhibitory motif and an immunoreceptor tyrosine-based switch motif, which suggests that PD-1 negatively regulates T-cell receptor TCR signals. This is consistent with binding of SHP-1 and SHP-2 phosphatases to the cytoplasmic tail of PD-1 upon ligand binding. In addition, PD-1 ligation up-regulates E3-ubiquitin ligases CBL-b and c-CBL that trigger T cell receptor down-modulation. PD-1 is expressed on the surface of activated T cells, B cells, and macrophages, suggesting that compared to CTLA-4, PD-1 more broadly negatively regulates immune responses.


title: Programmed cell death protein 1

text: PD-1 has two ligands, PD-L1 and PD-L2, which are members of the B7 family. PD-L1 protein is upregulated on macrophages and dendritic cells (DC) in response to LPS and GM-CSF treatment, and on T cells and B cells upon TCR and B cell receptor signaling, whereas in resting mice, PD-L1 mRNA can be detected in the heart, lung, thymus, spleen, and kidney. PD-L1 is expressed on almost all murine tumor cell lines, including PA1 myeloma, P815 mastocytoma, and B16 melanoma upon treatment with IFN-γ. PD-L2 expression is more restricted and is expressed mainly by DCs and a few tumor lines.


title: Programmed cell death protein 1

text: Several lines of evidence suggest that PD-1 and its ligands negatively regulate immune responses. PD-1 knockout mice have been shown to develop lupus-like glomerulonephritis and dilated cardiomyopathy on the C57BL/6 and BALB/c backgrounds, respectively. In vitro, treatment of anti-CD3 stimulated T cells with PD-L1-Ig results in reduced T cell proliferation and IFN-γ secretion. IFN-γ is a key pro-inflammatory cytokine that promotes T cell inflammatory activity. Reduced T cell proliferation was also correlated with attenuated IL-2 secretion and together, these data suggest that PD-1 negatively regulates T cell responses.


title: Programmed cell death protein 1

text: Experiments using PD-L1 transfected DCs and PD-1 expressing transgenic (Tg) CD4 and CD8 T cells suggest that CD8 T cells are more susceptible to inhibition by PD-L1, although this could be dependent on the strength of TCR signaling. Consistent with a role in negatively regulating CD8 T cell responses, using an LCMV viral vector model of chronic infection, Rafi Ahmed's group showed that the PD-1-PD-L1 interaction inhibits activation, expansion and acquisition of effector functions of virus specific CD8 T cells, which can be reversed by blocking the PD-1-PD-L1 interaction.


title: Programmed cell death protein 1

text: Expression of PD-L1 on tumor cells inhibits anti-tumor activity through engagement of PD-1 on effector T cells. Expression of PD-L1 on tumors is correlated with reduced survival in esophageal, pancreatic and other types of cancers, highlighting this pathway as a target for immunotherapy. Triggering PD-1, expressed on monocytes and up-regulated upon monocytes activation, by its ligand PD-L1 induces IL-10 production which inhibits CD4 T-cell function.


title: Programmed cell death protein 1

text: In mice, expression of this gene is induced in the thymus when anti-CD3 antibodies are injected and large numbers of thymocytes undergo apoptosis. Mice deficient for this gene bred on a BALB/c background developed dilated cardiomyopathy and died from congestive heart failure. These studies suggest that this gene product may also be important in T cell function and contribute to the prevention of autoimmune diseases.


title: Programmed cell death protein 1

text: Overexpression of PD1 on CD8+ T cells is one of the indicators of T-cell exhaustion (e.g. in chronic infection or cancer).


title: Programmed cell death protein 1

text: PD-L1, the ligand for PD1, is highly expressed in several cancers and hence the role of PD1 in cancer immune evasion is well established. Monoclonal antibodies targeting PD-1 that boost the immune system are being developed for the treatment of cancer. Many tumor cells express PD-L1, an immunosuppressive PD-1 ligand; inhibition of the interaction between PD-1 and PD-L1 can enhance T-cell responses "in vitro" and mediate preclinical antitumor activity. This is known as immune checkpoint blockade.


title: Programmed cell death protein 1

text: Combination therapy using both anti-PD1 along with anti-CTLA4 therapeutics have emerged as important tumor treatments within the field of checkpoint inhibition.


title: Programmed cell death protein 1

text: A combination of PD1 and CTLA4 antibodies has been shown to be more effective than either antibody alone in the treatment of a variety of cancers. The effects of the two antibodies do not appear to be redundant. Anti-CTLA4 treatment leads to an enhanced antigen specific T cell dependent immune reaction while anti-PD-1 appears to reactivate CD8+ T cells ability to lyse cancer cells.


title: Programmed cell death protein 1

text: In clinical trials, combination therapy has been shown to be effective in reducing tumor size in patients that are unresponsive to single co-inhibitory blockade, despite increasing levels of toxicity due to anti-CTLA4 treatment. A combination of PD1 and CTLA4 induced up to a ten-fold higher number of CD8+ T cells that are actively infiltrating the tumor tissue. The authors hypothesized that the higher levels of CD8+ T cell infiltration was due to anti-CTLA-4 inhibited the conversion of CD4 T cells to T regulator cells and further reduced T regulatory suppression with anti-PD-1. This combination promoted a more robust inflammatory response to the tumor that reduced the size of the cancer. Most recently, the FDA has approved a combination therapy with both anti-CTLA4 (ipilimumab) and anti-PD1 (nivolumab) in October 2015.


title: Programmed cell death protein 1

text: The molecular factors and receptors necessary making a tumor receptive to anti-PD1 treatment remains unknown. PD-L1 expression on the surface on cancer cells plays a significant role. PD-L1 positive tumors were twice as likely to respond to combination treatment. However patients with PD-L1 negative tumors also have limited response to anti-PD1, demonstrating that PD-L1 expression is not an absolute determinant of the effectiveness of therapy.


title: Programmed cell death protein 1

text: Higher mutational burden in the tumor is correlated with a greater effect of the anti-PD-1 treatment. In clinical trials, patients who benefited from anti-PD1 treatment had cancers, such as melanoma, bladder cancer, and gastric cancer, that had a median higher average number of mutations than the patients who did not respond to the therapy. However, the correlation between higher tumor burden and the clinical effectiveness of PD-1 immune blockade is still uncertain.


title: Programmed cell death protein 1

text: The 2018 Nobel prize for medicine was awarded to James P Allison and Tasuku Honjo "for their discovery of cancer therapy by inhibition of negative immune regulation".


title: Programmed cell death protein 1

text: One such anti-PD-1 antibody drug, nivolumab, (Opdivo - Bristol-Myers Squibb), produced complete or partial responses in non-small-cell lung cancer, melanoma, and renal-cell cancer, in a clinical trial with a total of 296 patients. Colon and pancreatic cancer did not have a response. Nivolumab (Opdivo, Bristol-Myers Squibb) was approved in Japan in July 2014 and by the US FDA in December 2014 to treat metastatic melanoma.


title: Programmed cell death protein 1

text: Pembrolizumab (Keytruda, MK-3475, Merck), which also targets PD-1 receptors, was approved by the FDA in Sept 2014 to treat metastatic melanoma. Pembrolizumab has been made accessible to advanced melanoma patients in the UK via UK Early Access to Medicines Scheme (EAMS) in March 2015. It is being used in clinical trials in the US for lung cancer, lymphoma, and mesothelioma. It has had measured success, with little side effects. It is up to the manufacturer of the drug to submit application to the FDA for approval for use in these diseases. On October 2, 2015 Pembrolizumab was approved by FDA for advanced (metastatic) non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients whose disease has progressed after other treatments.


title: Programmed cell death protein 1

text: Other drugs in early stage development targeting PD-1 receptors (checkpoint inhibitors) are Pidilizumab (CT-011, Cure Tech), BMS-936559 (Bristol Myers Squibb) and Toripalimab (JS-001, TopAlliance), a humanized IgG4 monoclonal antibody against PD-1. Both Atezolizumab (MPDL3280A, Roche) and Avelumab (Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany & Pfizer) target the similar PD-L1 receptor.


title: Programmed cell death protein 1

text: Drugs targeting PD-1 in combination with other negative immune checkpoint receptors, such as (TIGIT), may augment immune responses and/or facilitate HIV eradication. T lymphocytes exhibit elevated expression of PD-1 in cases of chronic HIV infection. Heightened presence of the PD-1 receptors corresponds to exhaustion of the HIV specific CD8+ cytotoxic and CD4+ helper T cell populations that are vital in combating the virus. Immune blockade of PD-1 resulted in restoration of T cell inflammatory phenotype necessary to combat the progression of disease.


title: Programmed cell death protein 1

text: Blocking of PD-1 leads to a reduction in cerebral amyloid-β plaques and improves cognitive performance in mice. Immune blockade of PD-1 evoked an IFN-γ dependent immune response that recruited monocyte-derived macrophages to the brain that were then capable of clearing the amyloid-β plaques from the tissue. Repeated administrations with anti-PD-1 were found to be necessary to maintain the therapeutic effects of the treatment. Amyloid fibrils are immunosuppressive and this finding has been separately confirmed by examining the effects of the fibrils in neuroinflammatory diseases. PD-1 counteracts the effects of the fibrils by boosting immune activity and triggering an immune pathway that allows for brain repair.


title: Unstoppable (Aaliyah album)

text: Unstoppable is the upcoming fourth studio album and first posthumous non-compilation album from American singer Aaliyah. It was scheduled to be released in January 2022 through Blackground Records 2.0 and Empire, but did not come out at that time and as of December 2022, a new release date has yet to be announced. The album was preceded by the single "Poison", which features vocals from Canadian singer the Weeknd. The album is the first studio album of Aaliyah material since her 2001 death.


title: Unstoppable (Aaliyah album)

text: On August 25, 2021, the 20th anniversary of Aaliyah's death, her uncle and Blackground Records 2.0 label boss, Barry Hankerson, revealed in an interview with Big Tigger for WVEE that a fourth (and likely final) studio album, titled "Unstoppable", would be released in "a matter of weeks". The album will feature Drake, Snoop Dogg, Ne-Yo, Chris Brown, Future and use previously unreleased vocals from before Aaliyah's death. Hankerson shared that this will be the end of new music for the late star and added, "I think it's wonderful. It's a very emotional process to do. It's very difficult to hear her sing when she's not here, but we got through it." Hankerson added in 2022, "She loved Snoop Dogg, who's done a great record in collaboration with Future. Ne-Yo gave us an excellent song; also Drake. Timbaland produced the track that Chris Brown did. It's vintage R&B with strong vocals."