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Acceptance testing

In engineering and its various subdisciplines, acceptance testing is a test conducted to determine if the requirements of a specification or contract are met. It may involve chemical tests, physical tests, or performance tests.

In systems engineering, it may involve black-box testing performed on a system (for example: a piece of software, lots of manufactured mechanical parts, or batches of chemical products) prior to its delivery.

In software testing, the ISTQB defines acceptance testing as: "Formal testing with respect to user needs, requirements, and business processes conducted to determine whether a system satisfies the acceptance criteria and to enable the user, customers or other authorized entity to determine whether to accept the system." The final test in the QA lifecycle, user acceptance testing, is conducted just before the final release to assess whether the product or application can handle real-world scenarios. By replicating user behavior, it checks if the system satisfies business requirements and rejects changes if certain criteria are not met.

Some forms of acceptance testing are, user acceptance testing (UAT), end-user testing, operational acceptance testing (OAT), acceptance test-driven development (ATDD) and field (acceptance) testing. Acceptance criteria are the criteria that a system or component must satisfy in order to be accepted by a user, customer, or other authorized entity.

Overview
Testing is a set of activities conducted to facilitate the discovery and/or evaluation of properties of one or more items under test. Each test, known as a test case, exercises a set of predefined test activities, developed to drive the execution of the test item to meet test objectives; including correct implementation, error identification, quality verification, and other valued details. The test environment is usually designed to be identical, or as close as possible, to the anticipated production environment. It includes all facilities, hardware, software, firmware, procedures, and/or documentation intended for or used to perform the testing of software.

UAT and OAT test cases are ideally derived in collaboration with business customers, business analysts, testers, and developers. These tests must include both business logic tests as well as operational environment conditions. The business customers (product owners) are the primary stakeholders of these tests. As the test conditions successfully achieve their acceptance criteria, the stakeholders are reassured the development is progressing in the right direction.

 * User acceptance test (UAT) criteria (in agile software development) are usually created by business customers and expressed in a business domain language. These are high-level tests to verify the completeness of a user story or stories 'played' during any sprint/iteration.
 * Operational acceptance test (OAT) criteria (regardless of using agile, iterative, or sequential development) are defined in terms of functional and non-functional requirements; covering key quality attributes of functional stability, portability, and reliability.

Process
The acceptance test suite may need to be performed multiple times, as all of the test cases may not be executed within a single test iteration.

The acceptance test suite is run using predefined acceptance test procedures to direct the testers on which data to use, the step-by-step processes to follow, and the expected result following execution. The actual results are retained for comparison with the expected results. If the actual results match the expected results for each test case, the test case is said to pass. If the quantity of non-passing test cases does not breach the project's predetermined threshold, the test suite is said to pass. If it does, the system may either be rejected or accepted on conditions previously agreed between the sponsor and the manufacturer.

The anticipated result of a successful test execution:
 * test cases are executed, using predetermined data
 * actual results are recorded
 * actual and expected results are compared, and
 * test results are determined.

The objective is to provide confidence that the developed product meets both the functional and non-functional requirements. The purpose of conducting acceptance testing is that once completed, and provided the acceptance criteria are met, it is expected the sponsors will sign off on the product development/enhancement as satisfying the defined requirements (previously agreed between business and product provider/developer).

User acceptance testing
User acceptance testing (UAT) consists of a process of verifying that a solution works for the user. It is not system testing (ensuring software does not crash and meets documented requirements) but rather ensures that the solution will work for the user (i.e. tests that the user accepts the solution); software vendors often refer to this as "Beta testing".

This testing should be undertaken by the intended end user, or a subject-matter expert (SME), preferably the owner or client of the solution under test, and provide a summary of the findings for confirmation to proceed after trial or review. In software development, UAT as one of the final stages of a project often occurs before a client or customer accepts the new system. Users of the system perform tests in line with what would occur in real-life scenarios.

The materials given to the tester must be similar to the materials that the end user will have. Testers should be given real-life scenarios such as the three most common or difficult tasks that the users they represent will undertake.

The UAT acts as a final verification of the required business functionality and proper functioning of the system, emulating real-world conditions on behalf of the paying client or a specific large customer. If the software works as required and without issues during normal use, one can reasonably extrapolate the same level of stability in production.

User tests, usually performed by clients or by end-users, do not normally focus on identifying simple cosmetic problems such as spelling errors, nor on showstopper defects, such as software crashes; testers and developers identify and fix these issues during earlier unit testing, integration testing, and system testing phases.

UAT should be executed against test scenarios. Test scenarios usually differ from System or Functional test cases in that they represent a "player" or "user" journey. The broad nature of the test scenario ensures that the focus is on the journey and not on technical or system-specific details, staying away from "click-by-click" test steps to allow for a variance in users' behaviour. Test scenarios can be broken down into logical "days", which are usually where the actor (player/customer/operator) or system (backoffice, front end) changes.

In industry, a common UAT is a factory acceptance test (FAT). This test takes place before the installation of the equipment. Most of the time testers not only check that the equipment meets the specification but also that it is fully functional. A FAT usually includes a check of completeness, a verification against contractual requirements, a proof of functionality (either by simulation or a conventional function test), and a final inspection. The results of these tests give clients confidence in how the system will perform in production. There may also be legal or contractual requirements for acceptance of the system.

Operational acceptance testing
Operational acceptance testing (OAT) is used to conduct operational readiness (pre-release) of a product, service or system as part of a quality management system. OAT is a common type of non-functional software testing, used mainly in software development and software maintenance projects. This type of testing focuses on the operational readiness of the system to be supported, and/or to become part of the production environment.

Acceptance testing in extreme programming
Acceptance testing is a term used in agile software development methodologies, particularly extreme programming, referring to the functional testing of a user story by the software development team during the implementation phase.

The customer specifies scenarios to test when a user story has been correctly implemented. A story can have one or many acceptance tests, whatever it takes to ensure the functionality works. Acceptance tests are black-box system tests. Each acceptance test represents some expected result from the system. Customers are responsible for verifying the correctness of the acceptance tests and reviewing test scores to decide which failed tests are of highest priority. Acceptance tests are also used as regression tests prior to a production release. A user story is not considered complete until it has passed its acceptance tests. This means that new acceptance tests must be created for each iteration or the development team will report zero progress.

Types of acceptance testing
Typical types of acceptance testing include the following

 * User acceptance testing:This may include factory acceptance testing (FAT), i.e. the testing done by a vendor before the product or system is moved to its destination site, after which site acceptance testing (SAT) may be performed by the users at the site.
 * Operational acceptance testing:Also known as operational readiness testing, this refers to the checking done to a system to ensure that processes and procedures are in place to allow the system to be used and maintained. This may include checks done to back-up facilities, procedures for disaster recovery, training for end users, maintenance procedures, and security procedures.
 * Contract and regulation acceptance testing
 * In contract acceptance testing, a system is tested against acceptance criteria as documented in a contract, before the system is accepted. In regulation acceptance testing, a system is tested to ensure it meets governmental, legal and safety standards.

 * Factory acceptance testing
 * Acceptance testing conducted at the site at which the product is developed and performed by employees of the supplier organization, to determine whether a component or system satisfies the requirements, normally including hardware as well as software.

 * Alpha and beta testing
 * Alpha testing takes place at developers' sites, and involves testing of the operational system by internal staff, before it is released to external customers. Beta testing takes place at customers' sites, and involves testing by a group of customers who use the system at their own locations and provide feedback, before the system is released to other customers. The latter is often called "field testing".

Acceptance criteria
According to the Project Management Institute, acceptance criteria is a "set of conditions that is required to be met before deliverables are accepted." Requirements found in acceptance criteria for a given component of the system are usually very detailed.

List of acceptance-testing frameworks

 * Concordion, Specification by example (SbE) framework
 * Concordion.NET, acceptance testing in .NET
 * Cucumber, a behavior-driven development (BDD) acceptance test framework
 * Capybara, Acceptance test framework for Ruby web applications
 * Behat, BDD acceptance framework for PHP
 * Lettuce, BDD acceptance framework for Python
 * Cypress
 * Fabasoft app.test for automated acceptance tests
 * Framework for Integrated Test (Fit)
 * FitNesse, a fork of Fit
 * Gauge (software), Test Automation Framework from Thoughtworks
 * iMacros
 * ItsNat Java Ajax web framework with built-in, server based, functional web testing capabilities.
 * Maveryx Test Automation Framework for functional testing, regression testing, GUI testing, data-driven and codeless testing of Desktop and Web applications.
 * Mocha, a popular web acceptance test framework based on Javascript and Node.js
 * Playwright (software)
 * Ranorex
 * Robot Framework
 * Selenium
 * Specification by example (Specs2)
 * Watir

title: Acceptance testing


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Archbishopric of Riga

The Archbishopric of Riga (Archiepiscopatus Rigensis, Erzbisdom Riga) was an archbishopric in Medieval Livonia, a subject to the Holy See. It was established in 1186 as the bishopric of Livonia at Ikšķile, then after moving to Riga it became the bishopric of Riga in 1202 and was elevated to an archbishopric in 1255.

Archbishops of Riga
The archbishops of Riga were also the secular rulers of Riga until 1561 when during the Reformation the territory converted from Catholicism to Lutheranism and all church territories were secularized. The see was restored as a diocese of the Catholic Church in 1918 and raised into an archdiocese in 1923.

Bishops and Archbishops of Riga
A new Bishopric of Livonia was established in Latgalia in 1621 during the Inflanty Voivodeship of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.

Coinage
The Archbishops of Riga were innovators in the field of minting currency, reviving techniques abandoned since the collapse of Rome. The names of individual archbishops after 1418, as well as the years of their respective reigns, are stamped on Livonian pennies excavated at archaeological sites. In many cases, this is the only biographical data available. No Livonian pennies before 1418 have been found.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Archbishopric of Riga


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Albert Frederick, Duke of Prussia

Albert Frederick (Albrecht Friedrich; Albrecht Fryderyk; 7 May 1553 – 27 August 1618) was the Duke of Prussia, from 1568 until his death. He was a son of Albert of Prussia and Anna Marie of Brunswick-Lüneburg. He was the second and last Prussian duke of the Ansbach branch of the Hohenzollern family.

Duke of Prussia
Albert became Duke of Prussia after paying feudal homage to his cousin, the King of Poland, Sigismund Augustus, on 19 July 1569 in Lublin. The homage was described by the Polish chronicler Jan Kochanowski in his work Proporzec ("Standard"). During the 1573 Polish election, Albert Frederick attempted to gain acceptance to the Polish senate but was opposed by the powerful Jan Zamoyski (later Grand Hetman of the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland) who feared the influence of Protestants in the Polish legislative body. Albert Frederick initially refused to recognize the election of Stefan Bathory and supported the candidacy of Maximilian of Austria. However, at the Toruń sejm of October 1576 he gave his support to the new monarch.

As the great grandson of the Polish king Casimir IV Jagiellon, and as a Duke in Prussia who was fluent in Polish, Albert Frederick was seriously considered for a time as a possible candidate for the Polish throne. He particularly enjoyed the support of Polish Lutherans.

In 1572 he began to exhibit signs of mental disorder. In early 1578, the regency was taken over by his cousin, George Frederick of Brandenburg-Kulmbach (1539–1603). After George Frederick's death in 1603, the Polish king Sigismund III Vasa appointed Joachim Frederick as regent in 1605, and permitted his son, John Sigismund, to succeed him in 1611. The latter became Duke of Prussia after Albert Frederick's death in 1618.

Marriage
Albert Frederick was married in 1573 to Marie Eleonore of Cleves, a daughter of Wilhelm, Duke of Jülich-Cleves-Berg and Archduchess Maria of Austria (1531–1581). Maria was a daughter of Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor and Anna of Bohemia and Hungary.

Issue
Albert Frederick and Marie were parents to seven children:
 * 1) Anna of Prussia (3 July 1576 – 30 August 1625). Married John Sigismund, Elector of Brandenburg.
 * 2) Marie of Prussia (23 January 1579 – 21 February 1649). Married Christian, Margrave of Brandenburg-Bayreuth.
 * 3) Albert Frederick of Prussia (1 June 1580 – 8 October 1580).
 * 4) Sophie of Prussia (31 March 1582 – 4 December 1610). Married Wilhelm Kettler of Courland.
 * 5) Eleanor of Prussia (21 August 1583 – 9 April 1607). Married Joachim Frederick, Elector of Brandenburg.
 * 6) Wilhelm Frederick of Prussia (23 June 1585 – 18 January 1586).
 * 7) Magdalene Sibylle of Prussia (31 December 1586 – 22 February 1659). Married John George I, Elector of Saxony.

At his death, the duchy passed to his son-in-law John Sigismund, Margrave of Brandenburg, combining the two territories under a single dynasty and forming Brandenburg-Prussia.

title: Albert Frederick, Duke of Prussia


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Ansbach

Ansbach (, ; Anschba) is a city in the German state of Bavaria. It is the capital of the administrative region of Middle Franconia. Ansbach is 25 mi southwest of Nuremberg and 90 mi north of Munich, on the river Fränkische Rezat, a tributary of the river Main. In 2020, its population was 41,681.

Developed in the 8th century as a Benedictine monastery, it became the seat of the Hohenzollern family in 1331. In 1460, the Margraves of Brandenburg-Ansbach lived here. The city has a castle known as Margrafen–Schloss, built between 1704 and 1738. It was not badly damaged during the World Wars and hence retains its original historical baroque sheen. Ansbach is now home to a US military base and to the Ansbach University of Applied Sciences.

The city has connections via autobahn A6 and highways B13 and B14. Ansbach station is on the Nürnberg–Crailsheim and Treuchtlingen–Würzburg railways and is the terminus of line S4 of the Nuremberg S-Bahn.

Name origin
Ansbach was originally called Onoltesbach (about 790 AD), a term composed of three parts.

The individual word elements are "Onold" (the city founder's name), the Suffix "-es" (a possessive ending, like "-'s" in English) and the Old High German expression "pah" or "bach" (for brook). The name of the city has slightly changed throughout the centuries into Onoltespah (837 AD), Onoldesbach (1141 AD), Onoldsbach (1230 AD), Onelspach (1338 AD), Onsbach (1508 AD) and finally Ansbach (1732 AD).

It was also formerly known as Anspach.

History
According to folklore, towards the end of the 7th century a group of Franconian peasants and their families went up into the wilderness to found a new settlement. Their leader Onold led them to an area called the "Rezattal" (Rezat valley). This is where they founded the "Urhöfe" (meaning the first farms: Knollenhof, Voggenhof and Rabenhof). Gradually more settlers, such as the "Winden-Tribe" came, and the farms grew into a small village. Many villages around Ansbach were founded by the "Winden" during that period (even today, their settlements can easily identified by their names, like Meinhardswinden, Dautenwinden or Brodswinden). A Benedictine monastery was established there around 748 by the Frankish noble St Gumbertus. The adjoining village of Onoltesbach was first noticed as a proper town in 1221.

The counts of Öttingen ruled over Ansbach until the Hohenzollern burgrave of Nürnberg took over in 1331. The Hohenzollerns made Ansbach the seat of their dynasty until their acquisition of the Margraviate of Brandenburg in 1415. After the 1440 death of Frederick I, a cadet branch of the family established itself as the margraves of Ansbach. George the Pious introduced the Protestant Reformation to Ansbach in 1528, leading to Gumbertus Abbey's secularization in 1563.

The Markgrafenschloß was built between 1704 and 1738. Its gardens continued to be a notable attraction into the 1800s. In 1791, the last margrave sold his realm to the Kingdom of Prussia. In 1796, the Duke of Zweibrücken, Maximilian Joseph — the future Bavarian king— was exiled to Ansbach the French took Zweibrücken. In Ansbach, Maximilian von Montgelas wrote an elaborate concept for the future political organization of Bavaria, which is known as the Ansbacher Mémoire. Napoleon forced Prussia to cede Ansbach and its principality to Bavaria in the Franco-Prussian treaty of alliance signed at Schönbrunn Palace on 15 December 1805 at the end of the Third Coalition. The act was confirmed by the 1815 Congress of Vienna; Prussia was compensated with the Bavarian duchy of Berg. Ansbach became the capital of the circle of Middle Franconia following the unification of Germany; at the time, it had a population of 12,635.

Jewish families were resident in Ansbach from at least the end of the 18th century. They set up a Jewish Cemetery in the Ruglaender Strasse, which was vandalised and razed under the Nazi regime in the Kristallnacht. It was repaired in 1946, but it was damaged several times more. A plaque on the wall of the cemetery commemorates these events. The Jewish Congregation built its synagogue at No 3 Rosenbadstrasse, but it too was damaged by the SA, though it was not burnt down for fear of damaging the neighbouring buildings. It serves today as a "Symbolic House of God". A plaque in the entrance serves as a memorial to the synagogue and to Jewish residents who were murdered during the Holocaust. In 1940, at least 500 patients were deported from the Heil- und Pflegeanstalt Ansbach [Ansbach Medical and Nursing Clinic] to the extermination facilities Sonnenstein and Hartheim which were disguised as psychiatric institutions, as part of the Action T4 euthanasia action. They were gassed there. At the clinic in Ansbach itself, around 50 intellectually disabled children were injected with the drug Luminal and killed that way. A plaque was erected in their memory in 1988 in the local hospital at No. 38 Feuchtwangerstrasse.

During World War II, a subcamp of Flossenbürg concentration camp was located here. Also during the Second World War the Luftwaffe and Wehrmacht had bases here. The nearby airbase was the home station for the Stab & I/KG53 (Staff & 1st Group of Kampfgeschwader 53) operating 38 Heinkel He 111 bombers. On 1 September 1939 this unit was one of the many that participated in the attack on Poland that started the war. All of its bridges were destroyed during the course of the war. During the Western Allied invasion of Germany in April 1945, the airfield was seized by the United States Third Army, and used by the USAAF 354th Fighter Group which flew P-47 Thunderbolts from the aerodrome (designated ALG R-82) from late April until the German capitulation on 7 May 1945. At the end of the war, 19-year-old student Robert Limpert tried to get the town to surrender to the US Forces without a fight. He was betrayed by Hitler Youth and was hanged from the portal of the City Hall by the city's military commander, Col. (Oberst) Ernst Meyer. Several memorials to his heroic deed have been erected over the years, despite opposition from some residents — in the Ludwigskirche, in the Gymnasium Carolinum and at No 6 Kronenstrasse. After the Second World War, Ansbach belonged to the American Zone. The American Military authorities established a displaced persons (DP) camp in what used to be a sanatorium in what is today the Strüth quarter.

Bachwoche Ansbach has been held in Ansbach since 1947. Since 1970, Ansbach has enlarged its municipal area by incorporating adjacent communities. Ansbach hosts several units of the U.S. armed forces, associated with German units under NATO. There are five separate U.S. installations: Shipton Kaserne, home to 412th Aviation Support Battalion, Katterbach Kaserne, formerly the home of the 1st Infantry Division's 4th Combat Aviation Brigade, also home of 501st M.I. Bn and 501st Avn Bn. which has been replaced by the 12th Combat Aviation Brigade as of 2006, as part of the 1st Infantry Division's return to Fort Riley, Kansas; Bismarck Kaserne, which functions as a satellite post to Katterbach, hosting their Post Theater, barracks, Von Steuben Community Center, Military Police, and other support agencies, Barton Barracks, home to the USAG Ansbach and Bleidorn Barracks, which has a library and housing, and Urlas, which hosts the Post Exchange as well as a housing area opened in 2010. Ansbach was also home to the headquarters of the 1st Armored Division (United States) from 1972 to the early 1990s.

On 24 July 2016 a bomb was detonated in a restaurant in the city, killing only the bomber himself and injuring few people. The perpetrator was reported to be a Syrian refugee whose asylum application had been rejected but who had been given exceptional leave to remain until the security situation in Syria returned to a safe condition. Witnesses reported he had tried to enter a nearby music festival but had been turned away, before detonating his device outside a nearby wine bar.

Boroughs

 * Eyb bei Ansbach, part of Ansbach since 1 October 1970
 * Bernhardswinden, part of Ansbach since 1 July 1972
 * Brodswinden, part of Ansbach since 1 July 1972
 * Claffheim, part of Ansbach since 1 July 1972
 * Elpersdorf bei Ansbach, part of Ansbach since 1 July 1972
 * Hennenbach, part of Ansbach since 1 July 1972
 * Neuses bei Ansbach, part of Ansbach since 1 July 1972
 * Strüth
 * Wasserzell
 * Schalkhausen, part of Ansbach since 1 July 1972
 * Geisengrund
 * Dornberg
 * Neudorf
 * Steinersdorf

Lord mayors

 * 1877–1905: Ludwig Keller (1839–1911)
 * 1905–1919: Ernst Rohmeder
 * 1919–1934: Wilhelm Borkholder (1886–1945)
 * 1934–1945: Richard Hänel (NSDAP) (1895-date of death unknown)
 * 1945: Hans Schregle (1890–1970), (SPD), introduced by the Office of Military Government, United States
 * 1945–1950: Ernst Körner (SPD)
 * 1950–1952: Friedrich Böhner
 * 1952–1957: Karl Burkhardt (CSU)
 * 1957–1971: Ludwig Schönecker (CSU)
 * 1971–1990: Ernst-Günther Zumach (CSU) (1926–2012)
 * 1990–2008: Ralf Felber (SPD)
 * 2008-2020: Carda Seidel (independent)
 * since May 2020: Thomas Deffner (CSU)

Sights

 * Castle of the Margraves of Brandenburg-Ansbach
 * Museum Retti Palais
 * Margrave museum
 * Kaspar Hauser Monument
 * St. Gumbertus and St. Johannis churches, both 15th century
 * Theater Ansbach
 * Ansbacher Kammerspiele
 * LOFT – projectspace for contemporary art

Climate
Ansbach has a transitional temperate-continental climate (Köppen climate classification: Cfb/Dfb), with a small diurnal air temperature variation between day and night during winter, and with a moderate annual precipitation.

Economy
Around the time of the unification of Germany in 1871, the chief manufactures of Ansbach were woollen, cotton, and half-silk goods; earthenware; tobacco; cutlery; and playing cards. A considerable trade in grain, wool, and flax was also supported. By the onset of the First World War, it also produced machinery, toys, and embroidery.

Today there is a large density of plastics industry in the city and rural districts around Ansbach.

The city is known for making Peperami pork sausages and jerky.

Transport
Ansbach lies on the Treuchtlingen-Würzburg railway.

Public service

 * Elisabeth von Brandenburg-Ansbach (1451–1524), Princess of Brandenburg, by marriage Duchess of Württemberg
 * Frederick I, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach (1460–1536) Margrave of Ansbach & Margrave of Kulmbach
 * Albert, Duke of Prussia (1490–1568), Grand Master of the Teutonic Order and the first duke of Prussia.
 * Margravine Eleonore Juliane of Brandenburg-Ansbach (1663–1724), Princess of Brandenburg-Ansbach, by marriage Duchess of Württemberg-Winnental
 * Caroline of Ansbach (1683–1737), Queen of Great Britain and Ireland, wife of George II of Great Britain.
 * Christian Friedrich Carl Alexander (1736–1806), the last Margrave of Ansbach
 * Karl Heinrich Ritter von Lang (1764–1835), a historian and statesman, lived mainly in Ansbach.
 * Moritz Ritter von Spies (1805–1862), Bavarian Major General and War Minister
 * John James Maximilian Oertel (1811–1882), a Lutheran clergyman, converted to Roman Catholicism and moved to the United States
 * Maximilian Wolfgang Duncker (1811–1886), a historian and politician, died in Ansbach.
 * Kaspar Hauser (1812–1833), lived in Ansbach from 1830 to 1833, stabbed in the palace gardens
 * George H. Brickner (1834–1904), U.S. Representative from Wisconsin
 * Pinchas Kohn (1867–1941), was the last rabbi of Ansbach. He was the rabbinical advisor to the German occupying forces of Poland in the First World War and was also one of the founders of the World Agudath Israel movement
 * Theodor Endres (1876-1956), General of the Artillery
 * Wilhelm Adam (1893–1978), Colonel General
 * Hermann Fegelein (1906–1945), General of the Waffen-SS, was married to the sister of Eva Braun
 * Waldemar Fegelein (1912–2000), officer in the Waffen-SS
 * Amélie Jakobovits (née Munk, 1928–2010), wife of Immanuel Jakobovits, Chief Rabbi of the United Kingdom
 * Walter Brandmüller (born 1929), theologian and historian, president of the Pontifical Committee for Historical Sciences
 * Manfred Ach (born 1940), politician, from 1994 to 2008 Member of the Bavarian Parliament

Arts & science

 * Leonhart Fuchs (1501–1566), botanist and physician to margrave Georg Friedrich
 * Simon Marius (1573–1625), astronomer lived in Ansbach, he observed Jupiter's moons from the castle's tower, which led to a dispute with the true discoverer, Galileo Galilei
 * Georg Ernst Stahl (1659–1734), chemist, physician and metallurgist.
 * Matthias Buchinger (1674–1740), a German artist, magician and illustrator, born without hands or legs
 * Johann Uz (1720–1796), a German poet.
 * Marcus Eliezer Bloch (1723–1799), ichthyologist.
 * Georg Christian Oeder (1728–1791), pre-Linnean botanist
 * Ludwig von Förster (1792–1863), architect: Ringstrasse, 3 & synagogues in Vienna and Budapest
 * August von Platen-Hallermünde (1796-1835), poet.
 * Georges Oberhaeuser (1798–1868), optician
 * Oskar Freiherr von Redwitz (1823–1891), a poet from nearby Lichtenau.
 * Ferdinand Christian Gustav Arnold (1828–1901), lichenologist and taxonomist
 * Wilhelm Hecht (1843–1920), wood engraver and etcher
 * Fritz Hommel (1854–1936), orientalist
 * Theodor Escherich (1857–1911), pediatrician and bacteriologist
 * Max Westenhöfer (1871–1957), pathologist, professor at the University of Berlin and the University of Chile. Proposed the Aquatic ape hypothesis
 * Herbert Blendinger (1936-2020), violinist and composer

Sport

 * Helga Matschkur (born 1943), gymnast, competed in six events at the 1968 Summer Olympics.
 * Georg Volkert (1945–2020), footballer, played 410 games in Bundesliga and won 12 caps for West Germany
 * Sebastian Preiss (born 1981), handball player
 * Dominik Farnbacher (born 1984), racing driver
 * Alex King (born 1985), basketball player
 * Mario Farnbacher (born 1992), racing driver
 * Danilo Dittrich (born 1995), football player

Twin towns – sister cities
Ansbach is twinned with:
 * 🇫🇷 Anglet, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France
 * 🇺🇸 Bay City, Michigan, United States
 * 🇮🇹 Fermo, Marche, Italy
 * 🇨🇳 Jingjiang, Jiangsu, China

In popular culture
In the novel The Schirmer Inheritance (1953) by Eric Ambler (1909–1998), Sergeant Franz Schirmer of the Ansbach Dragoons is wounded in the battle of Preussisch-Eylau in 1807. He returns to Ansbach to settle but changes his name as he has been posted as a deserter. The bulk of the novel concerns efforts by an American law firm to trace his descendants to claim an inheritance.

title: Ansbach


text:
National Alliance (Italy)

National Alliance (Alleanza Nazionale, AN) was a national conservative political party in Italy. It was the successor of the Italian Social Movement (MSI), a neo-fascist party founded in 1946 by former followers of Benito Mussolini that had moderated its policies over its last decades and finally distanced itself from its former ideology, a move known as post-fascismo, during a convention in Fiuggi by dissolving into the new party in 1995.

Gianfranco Fini was the leader of AN from its foundation through 2008, after being elected President of the Chamber of Deputies. Fini was succeeded by Ignazio La Russa, who managed the merger of the party with Forza Italia (FI) into The People of Freedom (PdL) in 2009. A group of former AN members, led by La Russa, left PdL in 2012 to launch the Brothers of Italy (FdI), while others remained in the PdL and were among the founding members of the relaunched Forza Italia (FI) in 2013.

Foundation
National Alliance was launched in 1994 when the Italian Social Movement (MSI), the former neo-fascist party, merged with conservative elements of the former Christian Democracy, which had disbanded in 1994 after two years of scandals and various splits due to political corruption at its highest levels, exposed by the Mani pulite investigation, and the Italian Liberal Party, disbanded in the same year. It was officially launched in January 1995. Former MSI members dominated the new party, and the MSI's last leader, Gianfranco Fini, was elected the new party's first leader.

The AN logo followed a template very similar to that of the Democratic Party of the Left, incorporating the MSI logo in a small roundel of the AN logo as a means of legally preventing others from using it. The name was suggested by an article on the Italian newspaper Il Tempo written in 1992 by Domenico Fisichella, a prominent conservative academic. Starting in the 1990s, the MSI gradually transformed into a mainstream right-wing party, culminating in its 1995 dissolution into AN.

Government participation
The party was part of all three House of Freedoms coalition governments led by Silvio Berlusconi. Fini was nominated Deputy Prime Minister after the 2001 Italian general election and was Foreign Minister from November 2004 to May 2006.

When Fini visited Israel in late November 2003 in the function of Italian Deputy Prime Minister, he labelled the racial laws issued by the Italian fascism regime in 1938 as "infamous", as also Giorgio Almirante, historic leader of MSI, had done before. He also referred to the Italian Social Republic as belonging to the most shameful pages of the past, and considered fascism part of an era of "absolute evil", something which was hardly acceptable to the few remaining hardliners of the party. As a result, Alessandra Mussolini, the granddaughter of the former fascist dictator Benito Mussolini, who had been at odds with the party on a number of issues for a long time, and some hardliners left the party and formed Social Action.

In occasion of the 2006 Italian general election, AN ran within the House of Freedoms, with new allies. The centre-right lost by 24,000 votes in favour of the centre-left coalition The Union. Individually, AN received nearly 5 million votes, amounting to 12.3%. In July 2007, a group of splinters led by Francesco Storace formed The Right, which was officially founded on 10 November. Seven MPs of AN, including Teodoro Buontempo and Daniela Santanchè, joined the new party.

The People of Freedom
In November 2007, Silvio Berlusconi announced that Forza Italia would have soon merged or transformed into The People of Freedom (PdL) party.

After the sudden fall of the Prodi II Cabinet in January 2008, the break-up of The Union and the subsequent political crisis which led to a fresh general election, Berlusconi hinted that Forza Italia would have probably contested its last election and the new party would have been officially founded only after that election. In an atmosphere of reconciliation with Gianfranco Fini, Berlusconi also stated that the new party could see the participation of other parties. Finally, on 8 February, Berlusconi and Fini agreed to form a joint list under the PdL banner, allied with Lega Nord (LN). After the victory of the PdL in the 2008 Italian general election, AN was merged into the PdL in early 2009.

Ideology
National Alliance's political programme emphasised:
 * traditional values, being often close to the position of the Catholic Church, despite some social liberal and secular attitudes;
 * law and order, especially laws aimed at controlling immigration and implementing punishment;
 * support for Israel, the United States and European integration;
 * prohibition of all drugs, including marijuana.

Distinguishing itself from the MSI, the party distanced itself from Benito Mussolini and fascism, and made efforts to improve relations with Jewish groups. For example, after far-right skinheads celebrated the then-AN politician Gianni Alemanno's election as Mayor of Rome in 2008 by making the Roman salute outside the Palazzo Senatorio, Alemanno visited Rome Synagogue, where he gave a speech praising what he called the universal values of the fight against Nazism. The shift was also present in the rhetoric of the party's leader Fini, who went from declaring himself as "fascist for the 2000s" in 1987 when at the head of the MSI, to describing himself as a conservative at the time of the AN's launch in 1994. With most hardliners leaving the party, it sought to present itself as a respectable conservative party and to join forces with Forza Italia in the European People's Party and eventually in a united party of the centre-right. Historian David Broder has compared the AN to the People's Party in Spain, a post-Francisco Franco party.

Although the party approved the market economy and held favourable views on liberalisation and the privatisation of state-owned companies, AN was to the left of Forza Italia on economic issues and sometimes supported statist policies. That is why the party was strong in Rome and Lazio, where most civil servants live. The implosion of the Christian Democrats created space for a more economically interventionist party of the conservative right, and the AN sought closer ties to the former DC factions that joined the Berlusconi-led alliances of the right. As part of this, it also moderated its stances on the European Union and immigration, both of which were conditionally accepted by the party's leadership. Moreover, AN presented itself as a party promoting national cohesion, national identity, and patriotism.

Regarding institutional reforms, the party was a long-time supporter of presidentialism and a plurality voting system, and came to support also federalism and to fully accept the alliance with Lega Nord, although the relations with that party were tense at times, especially about issues regarding national unity.

Fini, a moderniser who saw Nicolas Sarkozy and David Cameron as role-models, impressed an ambitious political line to the party, combining the pillars of conservative ideology like security, family values, and patriotism with a more progressive approach in other areas, such as stem cell research and supporting voting rights for legal aliens. Some of these positions were not shared by many members of the party, most of whom staunchly opposed stem cell research and artificial insemination.

Factions
National Alliance was a heterogeneous political party and within it members were divided in different factions, some of them very organised:
 * Protagonist Right (Destra Protagonista), headed by Maurizio Gasparri and Ignazio La Russa, was the bigger faction and the closest to Forza Italia due to its liberal-conservative stances.
 * New Alliance (Nuova Alleanza), formerly called Right and Freedom (Destra e Libertà), headed by Altero Matteoli and Adolfo Urso, was formed by the staunchest supporters of Gianfranco Fini within the party and supported a liberal political agenda.
 * Social Right (Destra Sociale), led by Gianni Alemanno, advocated a more social approach to economic policy and was considered at the right of the party. It had close ties with the General Labour Union.
 * D-Destra, led by Francesco Storace, was the most conservative component of the party, proud of the MSI's tradition and in open opposition to Fini. Formed as a split from the Social Right, the group finally left AN and launched The Right in July 2007.
 * Christian Reformists (Cristiano Riformisti) was a minor Christian-democratic faction.

In the party there was also a group named Ethic-Religious Council, whose board members included Gaetano Rebecchini (founder, ex-DC), Riccardo Pedrizzi (president), Franco Tofoni (vice-president), Luigi Gagliardi (secretary-general), Alfredo Mantovano, Antonio Mazzocchi, and Riccardo Migliori. This was not a faction but an official organism within the party and expressed the official position of the party on ethical and religious matters. Sometimes the group criticised Fini for his liberal views on abortion, artificial insemination, and stem-cell research, which led some notable ex-DC members as Publio Fiori to leave the party. Some members of the council, such as Pedrizzi and Mantovano, were described as members of an unofficial Catholic Right faction.

Popular support
The party had roughly 10–15% support across Italy, having its strongholds in Central Italy, as well as Southern Italy (Lazio 18.6%, Umbria 15.2%, Marche 14.3%, Abruzzo 14.3%, Apulia 13.2%, Sardinia 12.9%, Tuscany 12.6%, and Campania 12.6% in the 2006 Italian general election), scoring badly in Lombardy (10.2%) and Sicily (10.9%), while competing in the North-East (Friuli-Venezia Giulia 15.5% and Veneto 11.3%).

The party had a good showing in the first general election in which it took part, achieving 13.5% of the popular vote in 1994 Italian general election). In the 1996 Italian general election, when Fini tried for the first time to replace Silvio Berlusconi as leader of the centre-right, the party grew its support to 15.7%. From that moment the party suffered an electoral decline but remained the third force of Italian politics.

In the 2006 Italian general election, the final election in which the party participated on its own account, AN won 12.3% of the vote, securing 71 seats in the Chamber of Deputies and 41 in the Senate. In the 2008 Italian general election, the party had 90 deputies (excluding Fiamma Nirenstein, Alessandro Ruben, and Souad Sbai, whose election was supported both by Forza Italia and National Alliance), and 48 senators, who were elected as part of a joint election list under the banner of The People of Freedom.

The electoral results of National Alliance in general (Chamber of Deputies) and European Parliament elections since 1994 are shown in the chart below.

The electoral results of National Alliance in the 10 most populated regions of Italy are shown in the table below.

Leadership

 * President: Gianfranco Fini (1995–2008), Ignazio La Russa (acting, 2008–2009)
 * Coordinator: Maurizio Gasparri (1995–1998), Ignazio La Russa (2003–2005)
 * Spokesman: Francesco Storace (1995–1997), Adolfo Urso (1997–2001), Antonio Landolfi (2001–2005), Andrea Ronchi (2005–2009)
 * Head of Political Secretariat: Donato Lamorte (1995–2002), Andrea Ronchi (2002–2004), Carmelo Briguglio (2002–2004), Donato Lamorte (2004–2009)
 * President of National Assembly: Domenico Fisichella (1995–2005), Marcello Perina (2005–2006), Francesco Servello (2006–2009)
 * Organizational Coordinator: Giuseppe Tatarella (1995–1998), Altero Matteoli (1998–2002), Donato Lamorte (2002–2004), Italo Bocchino (2004–2005), Marco Martinelli (2005–2009)
 * Administrative Secretary: Francesco Pontone (1995–2009)
 * Party Leader at the Chamber of Deputies: Raffaele Valensise (1994–1995), Giuseppe Tatarella (1995–1998), Gustavo Selva (1998–2001), Ignazio La Russa (2001–2003), Gian Franco Anedda (2003–2004), Ignazio La Russa (2004–2008), Italo Bocchino (deputy-leader of PdL's group, 2008–2009)
 * Party Leader at the Senate: Giulio Maceratini (1994–2001), Domenico Nania (2001–2006), Altero Matteoli (2006–2008), Maurizio Gasparri (leader of PdL's group, 2008–2009)
 * Party Leader at the European Parliament: Cristiana Muscardini (1994–2004), Roberta Angelilli (2004–2009)

title: National Alliance (Italy)


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Arno

The Arno is a river in the Tuscany region of Italy. It is the most important river of central Italy after the Tiber.

Source and route

The river originates on Monte Falterona in the Casentino area of the Apennines, and initially takes a southward curve. The river turns to the west near Arezzo passing through Florence, Empoli and Pisa, flowing into the Ligurian Sea at Marina di Pisa.

With a length of 241 km, it is the largest river in the region. It has many tributaries: Sieve at 60 km long, Bisenzio at 49 km, Ombrone Pistoiese at 47 km, and the Era, Elsa, Pesa, and Pescia. The drainage basin amounts to more than 8200 sqkm and drains the waters of the following subbasins:

It crosses Florence, where it passes below the Ponte Vecchio and the Santa Trinita bridge (built by Bartolomeo Ammannati but inspired by Michelangelo). The river flooded this city regularly in historical times, most recently in 1966, with 4500 m3/s after rainfall of 437.2 mm in Badia Agnano and 190 mm in Florence, in only 24 hours.
 * The Casentino, in the province of Arezzo, formed by the upper course of the river until its confluence with the Maestro della Chiana channel.
 * The Val di Chiana, a plain drained in the 18th century, which until then had been a marshy area tributary of the Tiber.
 * The upper Valdarno, a long valley bordered on the east by the Pratomagno massif and on the west by the hills around Siena.
 * The Sieve's basin, which flows into the Arno immediately before Florence.
 * The middle Valdarno, with the plain including Florence, Sesto Fiorentino, Prato, and Pistoia.
 * The lower Valdarno, with the valley of important tributaries such as the Pesa, Elsa, and Era and in which, after Pontedera, the Arno flows into the Ligurian Sea. The river has a very variable discharge, ranging from about 6 m3/s to more than 2000 m3/s. The mouth of the river was once near Pisa but is now several kilometres westwards.

Before Pisa, the Arno is crossed by the Imperial Canal at La Botte. This water channel passes under the Arno through a tunnel, and serves to drain the former area of the Lago di Bientina, which was once the largest lake in Tuscany before its reclamation.

The flow rate of the Arno is irregular. It is sometimes described as having a torrentlike behaviour, because it can easily go from almost dry to near flood in a few days. At the point where the Arno leaves the Apennines, flow measurements can vary between 0.56 and 4100 m3/s. New dams built upstream of Florence have greatly alleviated the problem in recent years.

The flood on November 4, 1966 collapsed the embankment in Florence, killing at least 40 people and damaging or destroying millions of works of art and rare books. New conservation techniques were inspired by the disaster, but even decades later hundreds of works still await restoration.

Etymology
From Latin Arnus (Pliny, Natural History 3.50). The philologist Hans Krahe related this toponym on a paleo-European basis *Ar-n-, derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *er-, "flow, move".

Ecology
The Arno river has been strongly affected by non-native species: over 90% of fish species and 70% of macroinvertebrate species in the area around Florence are alien species. These include the European catfish, channel catfish, Crucian carp, common bleak, topmouth gudgeon, New Zealand mud snail, and killer shrimp. The mud crab has been found in the river near Pisa.

Uses and human impacts
Water from the Arno drainage basin is used for drinking water, irrigation, and firefighting. Citizens in the central part of the drainage basin also identified flood control, support for biodiversity, fisheries, and cultural value as other services that the river provides. There is the risk that flooding will jeopardize these ecosystem services, as 9% of wastewater treatment plants, 10% of landfills or other waste sites, and 4.5% of contaminated sites are at high risk of flooding, which would produce hotspots of pollution.

title: Arno


text:
Talk:Arno

Untitled
Great entry! I was meaning to get around to starting it myself, but I was beaten to it. However, "Arno" is a common first name in Europe, and is also an acronym for "Academic Research in the Netherlands Online" (among other possibilites). You might want to rename to entry "Arno river" to avoid any conflicts. maveric149

 * Still a newbie here, I don't know how to, but I agree :-)

It's easy. all you need to do is create a link for the new name in an edit box for the "Arno" page. Specifically, copy all the text for the "Arno" entry, and then at the bottom of the page type in the new title of the page with double brackets in front and behind the name (like so Arno river). Then hit the "Preview" botton, scroll down, find "Arno river?", click on the question mark and paste the text in the new edit window. At that point you can decide what to do with the "Arno" page. I suggest for now we redirect it to the "Arno river" entry. To do that, delete all the text in the "Arno" article and type the following: #REDIRECT Arno river

 * (diff) Arno river 1:07 am [done :-))) thanks maveric!] . . . . . 151.24.191.xxx

No Problem. And welcome to Wikipedia 151.24.191.xxx! --maveric149

title: Talk:Arno


text:
Aveiro, Portugal

Aveiro is a city and a municipality in Portugal. In 2021, the population was 80,880, in an area of 197.58 km2: it is the second most populous city in the Centro Region of Portugal (after Coimbra). Along with the neighbouring city of Ílhavo, Aveiro is part of an urban agglomeration that includes 120,000 inhabitants, making it one of the most important populated regions by density in the North Region, and primary centre of the Intermunicipal Community of Aveiro and Baixo Vouga. Administratively, the president of the municipal government is José Ribau Esteves, elected by coalition between the Social Democratic Party and the Democratic Social Centre, who governs the ten civil parishes (freguesias).

History
The presence of human settlement in the territory of Aveiro extends to the period associated with the great dolmens of pre-history, which exist in most of the region. The Latinised toponym ‘'Averius'’ derived from the Celtic word aber (river-mouth, etym.< Brythonic *aber < Proto-Celtic *adberos, compare Welsh Aberystwyth).

For a long period Aveiro was an important economic link in the production of salt and commercial shipping. It was a centre of salt exploration by the Romans and trade centre through the Middle Ages, registered since 26 January 959 (from the testament of Countess Mumadona Dias to the cenóbio of Guimarães). During this testament, Mumadona Dias also highlighted the ancient name for Aveiro, this time referring to the monastery's lands in Alauario et Salinas, literally, "a gathering place or preserve of birds and of great salt". From 11th century onwards, Aveiro became popular with Portuguese royalty.

Kingdom of Portugal

Later, King João I, on the advice of his son Pedro, who was the donatary of Aveiro, requested the construction of fortification walls.

King D. Duarte conceded in 1435 the privilege of providing an annual duty-free fair, later referred to as the Feira de Março (March Fair), today still an annual tradition.

The Princess St. Joana, daughter of Afonso V lived in Aveiro, entering the convent of Jesus, and lived there until her death on 12 May 1490. During her life her presence brought attention to the town, and favoured it with an elevated level of development for the time.

The first charter (foral) was conceded by Manuel I of Portugal on 4 August 1515, as indicated in the Livro de Leituras Novas de Forais da Estremadura. Its geographic position along the Aveiro River had always helped it to subsist and grow, supported by salt market, fishing and maritime commercial development. By the beginning of the 15th century, there already existed a great wall around the historical centre, intonating the significance of the community and growth of the population. This included the founding of many religious institutions and their supports, which assisted during the 17th and 18th century crises associated with silt in the waterway. In the winter of 1575, a terrible storm closed the entrance to its port, ending a thriving trade in metals and tiles, and creating a reef barrier at the Atlantic Ocean. The walls were subsequently demolished and used to create the docks around the new sand bar.

Between the 16th and 17th centuries, the river's instability at the mouth (between the Ria and open ocean) resulted in the closure of the canal, impeding the use of the port of Aveiro, and creating stagnation in the waters of the lagoon. This blow to the economy created a social and economic crisis, and resulted in the decrease in the population and emigration. It was at this time that the Church of the Miserícordia was constructed, during the Philippine Dynastic union.

In 1759, King José I elevated the town to the status of city, a few months after condemning the Duke of Aveiro (a title established in 1547 by João III), José Mascarenhas, to death. As a result, Aveiro became known as Nova Bragança: it was later abandoned much later, and returned to Aveiro. In 1774, by request of King José, Pope Clement XIV instituted the Diocese of Aveiro.

In the 19th century, the Aveirense were active during the Liberal Wars, and it was José Estêvão Coelho de Magalhães, a parliamentary member who was determinant in resolving the problem of access along the Ria. He also helped with the development of transport, especially the railway line between Lisbon and Porto. It was the opening of the artificial canals, completed in 1808, that allowed Aveiro to expand economically, marking the beginning in the town's growth.

The municipality was elevated to the status of town, centered on its principal church, consecrated to the Archangel Michael, today the location of the Praça da República (having been demolished in 1835).

Geography
Located on the shore of the Atlantic Ocean, Aveiro is an industrial city with an important seaport.

The seat of the municipality is the city of Aveiro, comprising the five urban parishes with about 73,003 inhabitants. The city of Aveiro is also the capital of the District of Aveiro, and the largest city in the Baixo Vouga intermunicipal community subregion.

Aveiro is known as "the Portuguese Venice", due to its system of canals and boats similar to the Italian city of Venice.

Climate
Aveiro has a warm-summer Mediterranean climate influenced by its proximity to the Atlantic Ocean. The maritime influence causes a narrow temperature range resulting in summers averaging around 24 C in daytime temperatures, considerably lower than inland areas on the same parallel on the Iberian Peninsula. As typical of mediterranean climates, summers are dry and winters are wet. A coastal feature is that frosts are rare and never severe. The hottest temperature recorded was 39.3 C. Temperatures above 32 C are only occasional.

Demography

Administratively, the municipality is divided into 10 civil parishes (freguesias):
 * Aradas
 * Cacia
 * Eixo e Eirol
 * Esgueira
 * Glória e Vera Cruz (urban centre and location of the seat of the municipality of Aveiro)
 * Oliveirinha
 * Requeixo, Nossa Senhora de Fátima e Nariz
 * Santa Joana
 * São Bernardo
 * São Jacinto

São Jacinto is located on an eponymous peninsula, between the Atlantic Ocean and Ria de Aveiro. Aveiro had 61,430 eligible voters in 2006.

International relations
Aveiro's sister cities are:

 * 🇫🇷 – Arcachon, France, since 1989
 * 🇧🇷 – Belém, Brazil, since 1970
 * 🇫🇷 – Bourges, France, since 1989
 * – Cholargos, Greece, since 2001
 * – Ciudad Rodrigo, Spain, since 1989
 * 🇧🇷 – Cubatão, Brazil, since 1992
 * 🇬🇼 – Farim, Guinea-Bissau, since 1992
 * 🇮🇹 – Forlì, Italy, since 1990
 * 🇲🇿 – Inhambane, Mozambique, since 1989
 * 🇹🇳 – Mahdia, Tunisia, since 1998
 * 🇯🇵 – Ōita, Japan, since 1978
 * 🇨🇳 – Panyu District, China since 2000
 * 🇧🇷 – Pelotas, Brazil, since 1996
 * 🇲🇿 – Pemba, Mozambique, since 1995
 * 🇨🇻 – Santa Cruz, Cape Verde, since 1993
 * – Santo António, São Tomé and Príncipe, since 1998
 * 🇨🇦 – Trois-Rivières, Canada, since 1996
 * – Viana do Castelo, Portugal, since 1910

Economy
Aveiro was known for many years for its production of salt and for the moliço seagrass harvest, which was used as fertilizer before the development of chemicals for that purpose. The boats once used for harvesting now carry tourists on the canals. Salt production has also decreased dramatically with only a few salt ponds still remaining.

The region is now known for the preponderance of ceramics industries, a reflection of the regions advancements, resulting in a long productive tradition since the late Roman, early Medieval period (reflected in the ceramics kilns).

Software development is important too, both at the R&D centre for a large telecom company and at the University of Aveiro (UA) which is attended by 15,000 students on undergraduate and postgraduate programs. UA works with companies in national and European R&D projects.

The city of Aveiro has several shopping centers and malls (Pingo Doce Shopping Center, Fórum Aveiro, Glicínias Plaza (Jumbo – Auchan), Aveiro's Shopping Center (Continente & Mediamarkt), Aveiro's Retail Park and the Oita Shopping Center). This city has many traditional commerce stores. The most central one being Forum Aveiro with clothes stores, restaurant zone and book stores.

The town's unemployment rate in 2015 was 12.5%; the University of Aveiro is a major employer.

Tourism
Tourism is also important for the economy. The old town centre, with its Art Nouveau and Romanesque architecture and "gondolas" (barcos moliceiros once used for collecting moliço seaweed) plying the Ria de Aveiro canals, is referred to as "The Venice of Portugal" in some tourist brochures.

Important tourist attractions are the Arte Nova (Art Nouveau) architectural designs and tiles of some buildings that were created in the early 20th century, the Art Nouveau museum, the Aveiro Museum (Museu de Aveiro, formerly the Mosteiro de Jesus convent with exhibits of King Afonso V's daughter, Santa Joana), the 15th century Aveiro Sé or São Domingos cathedral and the Church of Jesus (Igreja de Jesus) with its architecture. The nearby beaches, Costa Nova and Barra, attract many visitors in warm weather; they can be reached by bus from Aveiro. Other sites of interest to tourists include the Carmelite Church and the Misericórdia Church built in the 16th century.

Transport
The local economy is fed by a series of transport networks that cross the municipal boundaries.

Air
Regional gateways include air service through the Aeródromo de Aveiro/São Jacinto (LPAV) and the Porto de Aveiro (Ílhavo/Aveiro).

Rail
Rail service includes service by Alfa Pendular (between Lisbon and Braga; Lisbon and Oporto; Faro and Oporto) and Intercity (between Lisbon and Oporto as well as Lisbon and Guimarães) trains; suburban links through the Urbanos do Porto and, also, the Linha do Vouga, a narrow gauge railway to Águeda and Sernada do Vouga.

Road
The primary expressways and inter-regional thoroughfares include: A1 (between Porto and Lisbon); and the A25 (which links Viseu, Guarda and Vilar Formoso).

Intercity buses connect Aveiro with Porto and Lisbon several times a day.

Water
Moliceiros provide access along the Ria for tourist visits, in addition to traditional fishing or recreational purposes, including regattas.

Architecture

The architecture of Aveiro is influenced by two phases: the pre-Kingdom era, with a number of historical monuments; and the modernist movements resulting from the expansion of economy during the 19th-20th centuries.

The city's primary landmark is the 15th century Monastery of Jesus (Mosteiro de Jesus), containing the tomb of King Afonso V's daughter, St. Joana (who died in 1490). The presence of this royal personage, beatified in 1693, proved to be of great benefit when she bequeathed her valuable estate to the convent. In the 17th and 18th centuries, the convent housed a school of embroidery, but was transformed into the Museu de Santa Joana, or simply, the Museum of Aveiro, housing many of these handicrafts. The abundance of 19th-20th century architectural buildings reflects the effects of the boom during that period, including many of the Arte Nova and Art Deco buildings, inspired by modernist trends and Nationalist tendencies of the Estado Novo regime. The best of these is in the university campus, where many of the nationalist architects were involved in construction projects. The Arte Nova architecture was built by wealthy families from Brazil; their buildings included homes and shops. Traditional Portuguese decorations such as tiles were used. The concept did not last for a long time, but its presence is very distinctive in Aveiro; it is one of only 20 cities in the world that are included in the Réseau Art Nouveau Network, listing cities in Europe that are known for this architectural style.

There are several attractions in the city of Aveiro, including cathedrals, canals and the beaches, including the Ílhavo ceramica de Vista Alegre and the beaches of Barra, Costa Nova do Prado, and Gafanha da Nazaré.

Culture
Aveiro is known in Portugal for its traditional sweets, Ovos Moles de Aveiro (PGI), trouxas de ovos, both made from eggs. Raivas are also typical biscuits of Aveiro.

The municipal holiday is 12 May, the day of Joanna, Princess of Portugal (1452–1490).

Education
The University of Aveiro was created in 1973 and attracts thousands of students to the city. It is ranked as the 354th best university in the world in the Times World University Rankings, and the 2nd best in Portugal.

The university has about 430 professors (with PhD degrees), 11,000 undergraduate students, and 1,300 post-graduate students.

Sport
Sport Clube Beira-Mar is an association football club. Founded in 1922, it has a sports academy with various youth levels in sports including basketball and futsal. The club used to play at Estádio Municipal de Aveiro, designed by Portuguese architect Tomás Taveira for Euro 2004, where it held two group matches.

The other long-established club in the city, Os Galitos, was founded in 1904 and houses a wide variety of sports. Its rowers have represented Portugal in international tournaments including the Olympic Games.

Notable citizens

 * Fernão de Oliveira (1507 – ca.1581) a Portuguese grammarian, Dominican friar, historian, cartographer, naval pilot and theorist on naval warfare and shipbuilding
 * Antónia Rodrigues (1580–1641) a Portuguese soldier and national heroine
 * Jean Hyacinthe de Magellan (1722–1790) a Portuguese natural philosopher
 * José Luciano de Castro (1834 in Oliveirinha – 1914) a politician, statesman and journalist who served three times as Prime Minister of Portugal
 * Jaime de Magalhães Lima (1859–1936) a Portuguese philosopher, poet and writer
 * Mário Sacramento (1920–1969), physician and essayist, famous for his anti-fascist activities against the Estado Novo regime.
 * José Afonso (1929–1987) known as Zeca Afonso, one of the most influential folk and political musicians in Portugal
 * Rosa Alice Branco (born 1950 in Aveiro) a Portuguese poet.

Sport

 * Arnaldo Edi Lopes da Silva (born 1982), known as Edinho, a Portuguese footballer with almost 500 club caps
 * Diogo Valente (born 1984) a Portuguese footballer with over 360 club caps
 * Rui Raínho (born 1989) a Portuguese footballer with over 330 club caps

title: Aveiro, Portugal


text:
Talk:Albigensians

We now have entries at Cathar and Cathars (honest. separate entries) and here. --MichaelTinkler

Suggested addition
I suggest that someone add on this page a link to the following from the Catholic Encyclopedia:

Albigenses http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01267e.htm

Perhaps it could be put under a heading marked "External links" or something similar.

I'd do it myself, but I'm too afraid that I'd botch the job and earn the scorn of the wiki-wise.

Suggested Merge
It seems to me that Albigenses and Albigensians are the same group, and should share the same article. Incidentally, I would not mind seeing a merge of both into Cathar, but there were probably reasons for the creation of an extra article. Kusma (talk) 20:27, 1 December 2005 (UTC)

I don't believe a merge with the article on the Cathars would be the best option. It appears to me that the Cathar article is about a relgious sect while the Albigensian article concerns a geographic area. Luneraako 22:07, 3 January 2006 (UTC)

 * But it doesn't, really. As the article itself says, the group under discussion centred on Toulouse if anywhere, and to some extent merged with the Waldensians who have a quite different geographical origin. I would say the first paragraph of the article should be retained, since it explains the use of the term. The rest is duplicated under Cathar, or ought to be, and would be better deleted. Andrew Dalby http://perso.wanadoo.fr/dalby/ 18:17, 9 April 2006 (UTC)

Neutrality Problems
Maybe someone could change the wording of this page so it doesn't sound biased towards any specific religious denominations of beliefs. -- DavidDurieux 02:15, 14 April 2006 (UTC)

_________________________________________________________________

I have changed the wording. This is just a preliminary article until a more indepth article can be constructed. CDW - Can someone tell me if they purposefully deleted my additions to the Albigensian article or was it some automatic glitch? If purposely please leave comments as to why?

title: Talk:Albigensians


text:
Anthony the Great

Anthony the Great (Ἀντώνιος Antṓnios; القديس أنطونيوس الكبير; Antonius; Ⲁⲃⲃⲁ Ⲁⲛⲧⲱⲛⲓ; c. 12 January 251 – 17 January 356) was a Christian monk from Egypt, revered since his death as a saint. He is distinguished from other saints named Anthony, such as Anthony of Padua, by various epithets: Anthony of Egypt, Anthony the Abbot, Anthony of the Desert, Anthony the Anchorite, Anthony the Hermit, and Anthony of Thebes. For his importance among the Desert Fathers and to all later Christian monasticism, he is also known as the Father of All Monks. His feast day is celebrated on 17 January among the Eastern Orthodox and Catholic churches and on Tobi 22 in the Coptic calendar.

The biography of Anthony's life by Athanasius of Alexandria helped to spread the concept of Christian monasticism, particularly in Western Europe via its Latin translations. He is often erroneously considered the first Christian monk, but as his biography and other sources make clear, there were many ascetics before him. Anthony was, however, among the first known to go into the wilderness (about AD 270), which seems to have contributed to his renown. Accounts of Anthony enduring supernatural temptation during his sojourn in the Eastern Desert of Egypt inspired the depiction of his temptations in visual art and literature.

Anthony is appealed to against infectious diseases, particularly skin diseases. In the past, many such afflictions, including ergotism, erysipelas, and shingles, were referred to as Saint Anthony's fire.

Life of Anthony
Most of what is known about Anthony comes from the Life of Anthony. Written in Greek c. 360 by Athanasius of Alexandria, it depicts Anthony as an illiterate and holy man who, through his existence in a primordial landscape, has an absolute connection to the divine truth, which is always in harmony with that of Athanasius as the biographer.

A continuation of the genre of secular Greek biography, it became his most widely read work. Sometime before 374 it was translated into Latin by Evagrius of Antioch. The Latin translation helped the Life become one of the best-known works of literature in the Christian world, a status it would hold through the Middle Ages.

Translated into several languages, it became something of a "best seller" in its day and played an important role in the spreading of the ascetic ideal in Eastern and Western Christianity. It later served as an inspiration to Christian monastics in both the East and the West, and helped to spread the concept of Christian monasticism, particularly in Western Europe via its Latin translations.

Many stories are also told about Anthony in the Sayings of the Desert Fathers. Anthony probably spoke only his native language, Coptic, but his sayings were spread in a Greek translation. He himself dictated letters in Coptic, seven of which are extant.

Early years
Anthony was born in Koma in Lower Egypt to wealthy landowner parents. When he was about 20 years old, his parents died and left him with the care of his unmarried sister. Shortly thereafter, he decided to follow the gospel exhortation in Matthew 19: 21, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasures in heaven." Anthony gave away some of his family's lands to his neighbors, sold the remaining property, and donated the funds to the poor. He then left to live an ascetic life, placing his sister with a group of Christian virgins.

Hermit
For the next fifteen years, Anthony remained in the area, spending the first years as the disciple of another local hermit. There are various legends that he worked as a swineherd during this period.

According to the Temptation of Saint Anthony (1878) by Félicien Rops:

"Anthony is sometimes considered the first monk, and the first to initiate solitary desertification, but there were others before him. There were already ascetic hermits (the Therapeutae), and loosely organized cenobitic communities were described by the Jewish philosopher Philo of Alexandria in the 1st century AD as long established in the harsh environment of Lake Mareotis and in other less accessible regions. Philo opined that 'this class of persons may be met with in many places, for both Greece and barbarian countries want to enjoy whatever is perfectly good.' Christian ascetics such as Thecla had likewise retreated to isolated locations at the outskirts of cities. Anthony is notable for having decided to surpass this tradition and headed out into the desert proper. He left for the alkaline Nitrian Desert (later the location of the noted monasteries of Nitria, Kellia, and Scetis) on the edge of the Western Desert about 95 km west of Alexandria. He remained there for 13 years."

Anthony maintained a very strict ascetic diet. He ate only bread, salt and water and never meat or wine. He ate at most only once a day and sometimes fasted through two or four days.

According to Athanasius, the devil fought Anthony by afflicting him with boredom, laziness, and the phantoms of women, which he overcame by the power of prayer, providing a theme for Christian art. After that, he moved to one of the tombs near his native village. There it was that the Life records those strange conflicts with demons in the shape of wild beasts, who inflicted blows upon him, and sometimes left him nearly dead.

After fifteen years of this life, at the age of thirty-five, Anthony determined to withdraw from the habitations of men and retire in absolute solitude. He went into the desert to a mountain by the Nile called Pispir (now Der-el-Memun), opposite Arsinoë. There he lived strictly enclosed in an old abandoned Roman fort for some 20 years. Food was thrown to him over the wall. He was at times visited by pilgrims, whom he refused to see; but gradually a number of would-be disciples established themselves in caves and in huts around the mountain. Thus, a colony of ascetics was formed, who begged Anthony to come forth and be their guide in the spiritual life. Eventually, he yielded to their importunities and, about the year 305, emerged from his retreat. To the surprise of all, he appeared to be not emaciated, but healthy in mind and body. For five or six years he devoted himself to the instruction and organization of the great body of monks that had grown up around him; but then he once again withdrew into the inner desert that lay between the Nile and the Red Sea, near the shore of which he fixed his abode on a mountain (Mount Colzim) where still stands the monastery that bears his name, Der Mar Antonios. Here he spent the last forty-five years of his life, in a seclusion, not so strict as Pispir, for he freely saw those who came to visit him, and he used to cross the desert to Pispir with considerable frequency. Amid the Diocletian Persecutions, around 311 Anthony went to Alexandria and was conspicuous visiting those who were imprisoned.

Father of Monks

Anthony was not the first ascetic or hermit, but he may properly be called the "Father of Monasticism" in Christianity, as he organized his disciples into a community and later, following the spread of Athanasius's hagiography, was the inspiration for similar communities throughout Egypt and elsewhere. Macarius the Great was a disciple of Anthony. Visitors traveled great distances to see the celebrated holy man. Anthony is said to have spoken to those of a spiritual disposition, leaving the task of addressing the more worldly visitors to Macarius. Macarius later founded a monastic community in the Scetic desert.

The fame of Anthony spread and reached Emperor Constantine, who wrote to him requesting his prayers. The brethren were pleased with the Emperor's letter, but Anthony was not overawed and wrote back exhorting the Emperor and his sons not to esteem this world but remember the next.

The stories of the meeting of Anthony and Paul of Thebes, the raven who brought them bread, Anthony being sent to fetch the cloak given him by "Athanasius the bishop" to bury Paul's body in, and Paul's death before he returned, are among the familiar legends of the Life. However, belief in the existence of Paul seems to have existed quite independently of the Life.

In 338, he left the desert temporarily to visit Alexandria to help refute the teachings of Arius.

Final days
When Anthony sensed his death approaching, he commanded his disciples to give his staff to Macarius of Egypt, and to give one sheepskin cloak to Athanasius of Alexandria and the other sheepskin cloak to Serapion of Thmuis, his disciple. Anthony was interred, according to his instructions, in a grave next to his cell.

Temptation
Accounts of Anthony enduring preternatural temptation during his sojourn in the Eastern Desert of Egypt inspired the often-repeated subject of the temptation of St. Anthony in Western art and literature.

Anthony is said to have faced a series of preternatural temptations during his pilgrimage to the desert. The first to report on the temptation was his contemporary Athanasius of Alexandria. It is possible these events, like the paintings, are full of rich metaphor or in the case of the animals of the desert, perhaps a vision or dream. Emphasis on these stories, however, did not really begin until the Middle Ages when the psychology of the individual became of greater interest.

Some of the stories included in Anthony's biography are perpetuated now mostly in paintings, where they give an opportunity for artists to depict their more lurid or bizarre interpretations. Many artists, including Martin Schongauer, Hieronymus Bosch, Joos van Craesbeeck, Dorothea Tanning, Max Ernst, Leonora Carrington and Salvador Dalí, have depicted these incidents from the life of Anthony; in prose, the tale was retold and embellished by Gustave Flaubert in The Temptation of Saint Anthony.

The satyr and the centaur
Anthony was on a journey in the desert to find Paul of Thebes, who according to his dream was a better Hermit than he. Anthony had been under the impression that he was the first person to ever dwell in the desert; however, due to the dream, Anthony was called into the desert to find his "better", Paul. On his way there, he ran into two creatures in the forms of a centaur and a satyr. Although chroniclers sometimes postulated that they might have been living beings, Western theology considers them to have been demons.

While traveling through the desert, Anthony first found the centaur, a "creature of mingled shape, half horse half-man", whom he asked about directions. The creature tried to speak in an unintelligible language, but ultimately pointed with his hand the way desired, and then ran away and vanished from sight. It was interpreted as a demon trying to terrify him, or alternately a creature engendered by the desert.

Anthony found next the satyr, "a manikin with hooked snout, horned forehead, and extremities like goats's feet." This creature was peaceful and offered him fruits, and when Anthony asked who he was, the satyr replied, "I'm a mortal being and one of those inhabitants of the desert whom the Gentiles, deluded by various forms of error, worship under the names of Fauns, Satyrs, and Incubi. I am sent to represent my tribe. We pray you in our behalf to entreat the favor of your Lord and ours, who, we have learnt, came once to save the world, and 'whose sound has gone forth into all the earth.'" Upon hearing this, Anthony was overjoyed and rejoiced over the glory of Christ. He condemned the city of Alexandria for worshipping monsters instead of God while beasts like the satyr spoke about Christ.

Silver and gold
Another time Anthony was travelling in the desert and found a plate of silver coins in his path.

Demons in the cave
An ascetic, Anthony went out to live in the tombs away from the village. There were so many demons in the cave though, that Anthony's servant had to carry him out because they had beaten him to death. When the hermits were gathered to Anthony's corpse to mourn his death, Anthony was revived. He demanded that his servants take him back to that cave where the demons had beaten him. When he got there he called out to the demons, and they came back as wild beasts to rip him to shreds. Suddenly a bright light flashed, and the demons ran away. Anthony knew that the light must have come from God, and he asked God where he was before when the demons attacked him. God replied, "I was here but I would see and abide to see thy battle, and because thou hast mainly fought and well maintained thy battle, I shall make thy name to be spread through all the world."

Veneration
Anthony had been secretly buried on the mountaintop where he had chosen to live. His remains were reportedly discovered in 361 and transferred to Alexandria. Some time later, they were taken from Alexandria to Constantinople, so that they might escape the destruction being perpetrated by invading Saracens. In the eleventh century, the Byzantine emperor gave them to the French Count Jocelin. Jocelin had them transferred to La-Motte-Saint-Didier, later renamed. There, Jocelin undertook to build a church to house the remains, but died before the church was even started. The building was finally erected in 1297 and became a centre of veneration and pilgrimage, known as Saint-Antoine-l'Abbaye.

Anthony is credited with assisting in a number of miraculous healings, primarily from ergotism, which became known as "St. Anthony's Fire". Two local noblemen credited his assistance in their recovery from the disease. They then founded the Hospital Brothers of St. Anthony in honor of him, who specialized in nursing the victims of skin diseases.

He is venerated especially by the Order of Saint Paul the First Hermit for his close association with St. Paul of Thebes, after whom they take their name. In the Life of St. Paul the First Hermit, by St. Jerome, it is recorded that it was St. Anthony that found St. Paul towards the end of his life and without whom it is doubtful he would be known. Veneration of Anthony in the East is more restrained. There are comparatively few icons and paintings of him. He is, however, regarded as the "first master of the desert and the pinnacle of holy monks", and there are monastic communities of the Maronite, Chaldean, and Orthodox churches which state that they follow his monastic rule. During the Middle Ages, Anthony, along with Quirinus of Neuss, Cornelius and Hubertus, was venerated as one of the Four Holy Marshals (Vier Marschälle Gottes) in the Rhineland.

Anthony is remembered in the Anglican Communion with a Lesser Festival on 17 January.

Though Anthony himself did not organize or create a monastery, a community grew around him based on his example of living an ascetic and isolated life. Athanasius' biography helped propagate Anthony's ideals. Athanasius writes, "For monks, the life of Anthony is a sufficient example of asceticism. His story influenced the conversion of Augustine of Hippo and John Chrysostom.

Coptic literature
Examples of purely Coptic literature are the works of Anthony and Pachomius, who spoke only Coptic, and the sermons and preaching of Shenouda the Archmandrite, who chose to write only in Coptic. The earliest original writings in the Coptic language were the letters by Anthony. During the 3rd and 4th centuries, many ecclesiastics and monks wrote in Coptic.

title: Anthony the Great


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Amblypoda

Amblypoda was a taxonomic hypothesis uniting a group of extinct, herbivorous mammals. They were considered a suborder of the primitive ungulate mammals and have since been shown to represent a polyphyletic group.

Characteristics
The Amblypoda take their name from their short and stumpy feet, which were furnished with five toes each and supported massive pillar-like limbs. The brain cavity was extremely small and insignificant in comparison to the bodily mass, which was equal to that of the largest rhinoceroses. These animals were descendants of the small ancestral ungulates that retained all the primitive characteristics of the latter, accompanied by a huge increase in body size.

The Amblypoda were confined to the Paleocene and Eocene periods and occurred in North America, Asia (especially Mongolia) and Europe. The cheek teeth were short-crowned (brachyodont), with the tubercles more-or-less completely fused into transverse ridges, or cross-crests (lophodont type), and the total number of teeth was in one case the typical 44, but in another was fewer. The vertebra of the neck unite on nearly flat surfaces, the humerus had lost the foramen, or perforation, at the lower end, and the third trochanter to the femur may have also been wanting. In the forelimb, the upper and lower series of carpal (finger) bones scarcely alternated, but in the hind foot, the astragalus overlapped the cuboid, while the fibula, which was quite distinct from the tibia (as was the radius from the ulna in the forelimb), articulated with both astragalus and calcaneum.

Types of amblypods
The most generalized type was Coryphodon, representing the family Coryphodontidae, from the lower Eocene of Europe and North America, in which there were 44 teeth and no horn-like excrescences on the long skull, while the femur had a third trochanter. The canines were somewhat elongated and were followed by a short gap in each jaw, and the cheek-teeth were adapted for succulent food. The length of the body reached about six feet in some cases.

In the middle Eocene formations of North America occurred the more specialized Uintatherium (or Dinoceras), typifying the family Uintatheriidae. Uintatheres were huge creatures with long narrow skulls, of which the elongated facial portion carried three pairs of bony horn-cores, probably covered with short horns in life, the hind-pair having been much the largest. The dental formula was i. 0/3, c. 1/1, p. 3/3·4, m. 3/3, the upper canines having been long sabre-like weapons, protected by a descending flange on each side of the lower front jaw.

In the basal Eocene of North America, the Amblypoda were represented by extremely primitive, five-toed, small ungulates such as Periptychus and Pantolambda, each of these typifying a family. The full typical series of 44 teeth was developed in each, but whereas in the Periptychidae, the upper molars were bunodont and tritubercular, in the Pantolambdidae, they had assumed a selenodont structure. Creodont characters were displayed in the skeleton.

Current taxonomy of animals once classified in Amblypoda
Few authorities recognize Amblypoda in modern classifications. The following mammals were once considered part of this group:

 * Order Pantodonta
 * Family Wangliidae
 * Family Harpyodidae
 * Family Bemalambdidae
 * Family Pastoralodontidae
 * Family Titanoideidae
 * Family Pantolambdidae (including Pantolambda)
 * Family Barylambdidae
 * Family Cyriacotheriidae
 * Family Pantolambdodontidae
 * Family Coryphodontidae (including Coryphodon)
 * Order Dinocerata
 * Family Uintatheriidae (includes Uintatherium, Eobasileus, Tetheopsis, etc. Gobiatherium is sometimes placed in its own family.)
 * a part of the order Condylarthra, mainly the family Periptychidae (including Periptychus)

title: Amblypoda


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Amblygonite

Amblygonite is a fluorophosphate mineral, (Li,Na)AlPO4(F,OH), composed of lithium, sodium, aluminium, phosphate, fluoride and hydroxide. The mineral occurs in pegmatite deposits and is easily mistaken for albite and other feldspars. Its density, cleavage and flame test for lithium are diagnostic. Amblygonite forms a series with montebrasite, the low fluorine endmember. Geologic occurrence is in granite pegmatites, high-temperature tin veins, and greisens. Amblygonite occurs with spodumene, apatite, lepidolite, tourmaline, and other lithium-bearing minerals in pegmatite veins. It contains about 10% lithium, and has been utilized as a source of lithium. The chief commercial sources have historically been the deposits of California and France.

History
The mineral was first discovered in Saxony by August Breithaupt in 1817, and named by him from the Greek amblus, blunt, and gonia, angle, because of the obtuse angle between the cleavages. Later it was found at Montebras, Creuse, France, and at Hebron in Maine; and because of slight differences in optical character and chemical composition the names montebrasite and hebronite have been applied to the mineral from these localities. It has been discovered in considerable quantity at Pala in San Diego county, California; Caceres, Spain; and the Black Hills of South Dakota. A blue form of amblygonite-montebrasite has been described from Rwanda. The largest documented single crystal of amblygonite measured 7.62 × 2.44 × 1.83 m and weighed about 102 tons.

Gemology
Transparent amblygonite has been faceted and used as a gemstone. As a gemstone set into jewelry it is vulnerable to breakage and abrasion from general wear, as its hardness and toughness are poor. The main sources for gem material are Brazil and the United States. Australia, France, Germany, Namibia, Norway, and Spain have also produced gem quality amblygonite.

title: Amblygonite


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Amygdalin

Amygdalin (from Ancient Greek: ἀμυγδαλή amygdalē 'almond') is a naturally occurring chemical compound found in many plants, most notably in the seeds (kernels) of apricots, bitter almonds, apples, peaches, cherries and plums, and in the roots of manioc.

Amygdalin is classified as a cyanogenic glycoside, because each amygdalin molecule includes a nitrile group, which can be released as the toxic cyanide anion by the action of a beta-glucosidase. Eating amygdalin will cause it to release cyanide in the human body, and may lead to cyanide poisoning.

Since the early 1950s, both amygdalin and a chemical derivative named laetrile have been promoted as alternative cancer treatments, often under the misnomer vitamin B17 (neither amygdalin nor laetrile is a vitamin). Scientific study has found them to not only be clinically ineffective in treating cancer, but also potentially toxic or lethal when taken by mouth due to cyanide poisoning. The promotion of laetrile to treat cancer has been described in the medical literature as a canonical example of quackery, and as "the slickest, most sophisticated, and certainly the most remunerative cancer quack promotion in medical history".

Chemistry
Amygdalin is a cyanogenic glycoside derived from the aromatic amino acid phenylalanine. Amygdalin and prunasin are common among plants of the family Rosaceae, particularly the genus Prunus, Poaceae (grasses), Fabaceae (legumes), and in other food plants, including flaxseed and manioc. Within these plants, amygdalin and the enzymes necessary to hydrolyze it are stored in separate locations, and only mix as a result of tissue damage. This provides a natural defense system.

Amygdalin is contained in stone fruit kernels, such as almonds, apricot (14 g/kg), peach (6.8 g/kg), and plum (4–17.5 g/kg depending on variety), and also in the seeds of the apple (3 g/kg). Benzaldehyde released from amygdalin provides a bitter flavor. Because of a difference in a recessive gene called Sweet kernal [Sk], much less amygdalin is present in nonbitter (or sweet) almond than bitter almond. In one study, bitter almond amygdalin concentrations ranged from 33 to 54 g/kg depending on variety; semibitter varieties averaged 1 g/kg and sweet varieties averaged 0.063 g/kg with significant variability based on variety and growing region.

For one method of isolating amygdalin, the stones are removed from the fruit and cracked to obtain the kernels, which are dried in the sun or in ovens. The kernels are boiled in ethanol; on evaporation of the solution and the addition of diethyl ether, amygdalin is precipitated as minute white crystals. Natural amygdalin has the (R)-configuration at the chiral phenyl center. Under mild basic conditions, this stereogenic center isomerizes; the (S)-epimer is called neoamygdalin. Although the synthesized version of amygdalin is the (R)-epimer, the stereogenic center attached to the nitrile and phenyl groups easily epimerizes if the manufacturer does not store the compound correctly.

Amygdalin is hydrolyzed by intestinal β-glucosidase (emulsin) and amygdalin beta-glucosidase (amygdalase) to give gentiobiose and L -mandelonitrile. Gentiobiose is further hydrolyzed to give glucose, whereas mandelonitrile (the cyanohydrin of benzaldehyde) decomposes to give benzaldehyde and hydrogen cyanide. Hydrogen cyanide in sufficient quantities (allowable daily intake: ~0.6 mg) causes cyanide poisoning which has a fatal oral dose range of 0.6–1.5 mg/kg of body weight.

Laetrile
Laetrile (patented 1961) is a simpler semisynthetic derivative of amygdalin. Laetrile is synthesized from amygdalin by hydrolysis. The usual preferred commercial source is from apricot kernels (Prunus armeniaca). The name is derived from the separate words "laevorotatory" and "mandelonitrile". Laevorotatory describes the stereochemistry of the molecule, while mandelonitrile refers to the portion of the molecule from which cyanide is released by decomposition. A 500 mg laetrile tablet may contain between 2.5 and 25 mg of hydrogen cyanide.

Like amygdalin, laetrile is hydrolyzed in the duodenum (alkaline) and in the intestine (enzymatically) to D -glucuronic acid and L -mandelonitrile; the latter hydrolyzes to benzaldehyde and hydrogen cyanide, that in sufficient quantities causes cyanide poisoning.

Claims for laetrile were based on three different hypotheses: The first hypothesis proposed that cancerous cells contained copious beta-glucosidases, which release HCN from laetrile via hydrolysis. Normal cells were reportedly unaffected, because they contained low concentrations of beta-glucosidases and high concentrations of rhodanese, which converts HCN to the less toxic thiocyanate. Later, however, it was shown that both cancerous and normal cells contain only trace amounts of beta-glucosidases and similar amounts of rhodanese.

The second proposed that, after ingestion, amygdalin was hydrolyzed to mandelonitrile, transported intact to the liver and converted to a beta-glucuronide complex, which was then carried to the cancerous cells, hydrolyzed by beta-glucuronidases to release mandelonitrile and then HCN. Mandelonitrile, however, dissociates to benzaldehyde and hydrogen cyanide, and cannot be stabilized by glycosylation.

Finally, the third asserted that laetrile is the discovered vitamin B-17, and further suggests that cancer is a result of "B-17 deficiency". It postulated that regular dietary administration of this form of laetrile would, therefore, actually prevent all incidences of cancer. There is no evidence supporting this conjecture in the form of a physiologic process, nutritional requirement, or identification of any deficiency syndrome. The term "vitamin B-17" is not recognized by Committee on Nomenclature of the American Institute of Nutrition Vitamins. Ernst T. Krebs (not to be confused with Hans Adolf Krebs, the discoverer of the citric acid cycle) branded laetrile as a vitamin in order to have it classified as a nutritional supplement rather than as a pharmaceutical.

Early usage
Amygdalin was first isolated in 1830 from bitter almond seeds (Prunus dulcis) by Pierre-Jean Robiquet and Antoine Boutron-Charlard. Liebig and Wöhler found three hydrolysis products of amygdalin: sugar, benzaldehyde, and prussic acid (hydrogen cyanide, HCN). Later research showed that sulfuric acid hydrolyzes it into D -glucose, benzaldehyde, and prussic acid; while hydrochloric acid gives mandelic acid, D -glucose, and ammonia.

In 1845 amygdalin was used as a cancer treatment in Russia, and in the 1920s in the United States, but it was considered too poisonous. In the 1950s, a purportedly non-toxic, synthetic form was patented for use as a meat preservative, and later marketed as laetrile for cancer treatment.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration prohibited the interstate shipment of amygdalin and laetrile in 1977. Thereafter, 27 U.S. states legalized the use of amygdalin within those states.

Subsequent results
In a 1977 controlled, blinded trial, laetrile showed no more activity than placebo.

Subsequently, laetrile was tested on 14 tumor systems without evidence of effectiveness. The Memorial Sloan–Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) concluded that "laetrile showed no beneficial effects." Mistakes in an earlier MSKCC press release were highlighted by a group of laetrile proponents led by Ralph Moss, former public affairs official of MSKCC who had been fired following his appearance at a press conference accusing the hospital of covering up the benefits of laetrile. These mistakes were considered scientifically inconsequential, but Nicholas Wade in Science stated that "even the appearance of a departure from strict objectivity is unfortunate." The results from these studies were published all together.

A 2015 systematic review from the Cochrane Collaboration found:

The authors also recommended, on ethical and scientific grounds, that no further clinical research into laetrile or amygdalin be conducted.

Given the lack of evidence, laetrile has not been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration or the European Commission.

The U.S. National Institutes of Health evaluated the evidence separately and concluded that clinical trials of amygdalin showed little or no effect against cancer. For example, a 1982 trial by the Mayo Clinic of 175 patients found that tumor size had increased in all but one patient. The authors reported that "the hazards of amygdalin therapy were evidenced in several patients by symptoms of cyanide toxicity or by blood cyanide levels approaching the lethal range."

The study concluded "Patients exposed to this agent should be instructed about the danger of cyanide poisoning, and their blood cyanide levels should be carefully monitored. Amygdalin (Laetrile) is a toxic drug that is not effective as a cancer treatment".

Additionally, "No controlled clinical trials (trials that compare groups of patients who receive the new treatment to groups who do not) of laetrile have been reported."

The side effects of laetrile treatment are the symptoms of cyanide poisoning. These symptoms include: nausea and vomiting, headache, dizziness, cherry red skin color, liver damage, abnormally low blood pressure, droopy upper eyelid, trouble walking due to damaged nerves, fever, mental confusion, coma, and death.

The European Food Safety Agency's Panel on Contaminants in the Food Chain has studied the potential toxicity of the amygdalin in apricot kernels. The Panel reported, "If consumers follow the recommendations of websites that promote consumption of apricot kernels, their exposure to cyanide will greatly exceed" the dose expected to be toxic. The Panel also reported that acute cyanide toxicity had occurred in adults who had consumed 20 or more kernels and that in children "five or more kernels appear to be toxic".

Advocacy and legality of laetrile
Advocates for laetrile assert that there is a conspiracy between the US Food and Drug Administration, the pharmaceutical industry and the medical community, including the American Medical Association and the American Cancer Society, to exploit the American people, and especially cancer patients.

Advocates of the use of laetrile have also changed the rationale for its use, first as a treatment of cancer, then as a vitamin, then as part of a "holistic" nutritional regimen, or as treatment for cancer pain, among others, none of which have any significant evidence supporting its use.

Despite the lack of evidence for its use, laetrile developed a significant following due to its wide promotion as a "pain-free" treatment of cancer as an alternative to surgery and chemotherapy that have significant side effects. The use of laetrile led to a number of deaths. The FDA and AMA crackdown, begun in the 1970s, effectively escalated prices on the black market, played into the conspiracy narrative and enabled unscrupulous profiteers to foster multimillion-dollar smuggling empires.

Some American cancer patients have traveled to Mexico for treatment with the substance, for example at the Oasis of Hope Hospital in Tijuana. The actor Steve McQueen died in Mexico following surgery to remove a stomach tumor, having previously undergone extended treatment for pleural mesothelioma (a cancer associated with asbestos exposure) under the care of William D. Kelley, a de-licensed dentist and orthodontist who claimed to have devised a cancer treatment involving pancreatic enzymes, 50 daily vitamins and minerals, frequent body shampoos, enemas, and a specific diet as well as laetrile.

Laetrile advocates in the United States include Dean Burk, a former chief chemist of the National Cancer Institute cytochemistry laboratory, and national arm wrestling champion Jason Vale, who falsely claimed that his kidney and pancreatic cancers were cured by eating apricot seeds. Vale was convicted in 2004 for, among other things, fraudulently marketing laetrile as a cancer cure. The court also found that Vale had made at least $500,000 from his fraudulent sales of laetrile.

In the 1970s, court cases in several states challenged the FDA's authority to restrict access to what they claimed are potentially lifesaving drugs. More than twenty states passed laws making the use of laetrile legal. After the unanimous Supreme Court ruling in United States v. Rutherford which established that interstate transport of the compound was illegal, usage fell off dramatically. The US Food and Drug Administration continues to seek jail sentences for vendors marketing laetrile for cancer treatment, calling it a "highly toxic product that has not shown any effect on treating cancer."

In popular culture
The Law & Order episode "Second Opinion" is about a nutritional counselor named "Doctor" Haas giving patients laetrile as a cancer treatment for breast cancer as an alternative to getting a mastectomy.

title: Amygdalin