"Thymus serpyllum" (wild thyme) is an important nectar source plant for honeybees. All thyme species are nectar sources, but wild thyme covers large areas of droughty, rocky soils in southern Europe (Greece is especially famous for wild thyme honey) and North Africa, as well as in similar landscapes in the Berkshire Mountains and Catskill Mountains of the northeastern US.
There are a number of different cultivars of thyme with established or growing popularity, including:
Distribution
The word distribution has several meanings:
Distributed computing
Distributed computing is a word from computer science, about using many computers to solve a big problem. One way to solve a big problem is to use a very fast computer called a supercomputer. Supercomputers are very expensive, and many scientists can not buy them. A cheaper way to solve a big problem is to split it into smaller problems, when possible. These smaller problems can then be solved by different computers (or processors), which talk to each other over a computer network. Because many computers work together, this makes them as powerful as a supercomputer. One example where distributed computing is used is the Great Internet Mersenne Prime Search.
Thymus
The thymus is a specialized lymphoid organ of the immune system. The thymus is in front of the heart and behind the sternum.
In the thymus, T cells or T lymphocytes mature. T cells are critical to the adaptive immune system, where the body adapts specifically to foreign invaders.
The thymus is where T cells develop from hematopoietic (blood-forming) cells. In addition, this is where the T cells get tolerant to cells of the body.
The thymus is largest and most active during the newborn and pre-adolescent periods. By the early teens, the thymus begins to slow down. However, it continues to make lymphocytes throughout adult life.
Frequency distribution
In statistics, a frequency distribution is a list of the values that a variable takes in a sample. It is usually a list, ordered by quantity. It will show the number of times each value appears. For example, if 100 people rate a five-point Likert scale assessing their agreement with a statement on a scale on which 1 denotes strong agreement and 5 strong disagreement, the frequency distribution of their responses might look like:
This simple table has two drawbacks. When a variable can take continuous values instead of discrete values or when the number of possible values is too large, the table construction is difficult, if it is not impossible. A slightly different scheme based on the range of values is used in such cases. For example, if we consider the heights of the students in a class, the frequency table might look like below.
Managing and operating on frequency tabulated data is much simpler than operation on raw data. There are simple algorithms to calculate median, mean (statistics), standard deviation etc. from these tables.
Statistical hypothesis testing is based on the assessment of differences and similarities between frequency distributions. This assessment involves measures of central tendency or averages, such as the mean and median, and measures of variability or statistical dispersion, such as the standard deviation or variance.
A frequency distribution is said to be skewed when its mean and median are different. The kurtosis of a frequency distribution is the concentration of scores at the mean, or how peaked the distribution appears if depicted graphically—for example, in a histogram. If the distribution is more peaked than the normal distribution it is said to be leptokurtic; if less peaked it is said to be platykurtic.
Frequency distributions are also used in frequency analysis to crack codes and refer to the relative frequency of letters in different languages.
British Overseas Territories
A British Overseas Territory is one of fourteen territories which the United Kingdom considers to be under its sovereignty, but not as part of the United Kingdom itself.
Before 1981 the territories were known as colonies or "Crown colonies". The British Overseas Territories are also referred to as overseas territories of the United Kingdom, UK overseas territories, or when the context is clear, simply the Overseas Territories.
The territories of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man, though also under the sovereignty of the British Crown, have a slightly different constitutional relationship with the United Kingdom, and are consequently classed as Crown dependencies rather than Overseas Territories.
Territories and dependencies are distinct from the Commonwealth of Nations, a voluntary association of former British colonies.
In a historical context, colonies should be distinguished from protectorates and protected states, which though under British control, were nominally independent states, whereas colonies were part of the British state. They should also not be confused with Dominions, which, known collectively as "the Commonwealth", were independent states, held to be equal in sovereign status to the United Kingdom within the Empire and Commonwealth after the Statute of Westminster in 1931. Crown colonies, such as Hong Kong, were differentiated from other colonies in being administered directly by the Crown, without the degree of local autonomy found in self-governed colonies and other British overseas territories such as Bermuda.
The head of state in the Overseas Territories is the British monarch, currently Queen Elizabeth II. The Queen's role in the territories is in her role as Queen of the United Kingdom, and not in right of each territory. The Queen appoints a representative in each territory to exercise her executive power.
All the Overseas Territories have their own system of government, and localised laws. The structure of the government appears to be closely correlated to the size and political development of the territory.
Each Overseas Territory has its own legal system independent of the United Kingdom. The legal system is generally based on English common law, with some distinctions for local circumstances. Each territory has its own Attorney General, and court system. For the smaller territories, the UK may appoint a UK-based lawyer or judge to work on legal cases. This is particularly important for cases involving serious crimes and where it is impossible to find a jury who will not know the defendant in a small population island.
Promenade concert
The word Promenade Concert today usually refers to one of the concerts in the series started by Henry Wood in 1895, known today as the BBC Proms. However, before these concerts started there had for many years been promenade concerts in the parks of London. These concerts took place in the leisure gardens (parks) where people could walk about while listening to the music (French se promener = to walk).
People had to pay to go into the leisure gardens. There were lots of entertainments there, e.g. fireworks, dancing, acrobatics and music. The music was played by orchestras. Sometimes these orchestras played in bandstands, sometimes in proper buildings.
Vauxhall Gardens and Ranelagh Gardens were the most famous of these gardens. The composer George Frideric Handel had his music played there in the 18th century. The gardens were very fashionable until the 19th century. Aristocratic people, royalty and ordinary people all mixed there. Handel's "Music for the Royal Fireworks" was performed in Vauxhall Gardens to celebrate the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle. The composer Dr Thomas Arne was appointed composer of Vauxhall Gardens in 1745. It was here that many of his songs became popular, including "Rule Britannia". Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Joseph Haydn performed in Ranelagh Gardens on their visits to London.