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Portable computer

A portable computer is a computer designed to be easily moved from one place to another, as opposed to those designed to remain stationary at a single location such as desktops and workstations. These computers usually include a display and keyboard that are directly connected to the main case, all sharing a single power plug together, much like later desktop computers called all-in-ones (AIO) that integrate the system's internal components into the same case as the display. In modern usage, a portable computer usually refers to a very light and compact personal computer such as a laptop, subnotebook or handheld PC, while touchscreen-based handheld ("palmtop") devices such as tablet, phablet and smartphone are called mobile devices instead.

The first commercially sold portable computer might be the 20 lb MCM/70, released 1974. The next major portables were the 50 lb IBM 5100 (1975), Osborne's 24 lb CP/M-based Osborne 1 (1981) and Compaq's 28 lb, advertised as 100% IBM PC compatible Compaq Portable (1983). These luggable computers still required a continuous connection to an external power source; this limitation was later overcome by the laptop computers. Laptops were followed by lighter models such as netbooks, so that in the 2000s mobile devices and by 2007 smartphones made the term "portable" rather meaningless. The 2010s introduced wearable computers such as smartwatches.

Portable computers, by their nature, are generally microcomputers. Larger portable computers were commonly known as 'Lunchbox' or 'Luggable' computers. They are also called 'Portable Workstations' or 'Portable PCs'. In Japan they were often called 'Bentocom'. (ベントコン) from "bento".

Portable computers, more narrowly defined, are distinct from desktop replacement computers in that they usually were constructed from full-specification desktop components, and often do not incorporate features associated with laptops or mobile devices. A portable computer in this usage, versus a laptop or other mobile computing device, have a standard motherboard or backplane providing plug-in slots for add-in cards. This allows mission specific cards such as test, A/D, or communication protocol (IEEE-488, 1553) to be installed. Portable computers also provide for more disk storage by using standard disk drives and provide for multiple drives.

SCAMP
In 1973, the IBM Los Gatos Scientific Center developed a portable computer prototype called SCAMP (Special Computer APL Machine Portable) based on the IBM PALM processor with a Philips compact cassette drive, small CRT and full function keyboard. SCAMP emulated an IBM 1130 minicomputer in order to run APL\1130. In 1973, APL was generally available only on mainframe computers, and most desktop sized microcomputers such as the Wang 2200 or HP 9800 offered only BASIC. Because SCAMP was the first to emulate APL\1130 performance on a portable, single user computer, PC Magazine in 1983 designated SCAMP a "revolutionary concept" and "the world's first personal computer". The engineering prototype is in the Smithsonian Institution.

Xerox NoteTaker
Xerox NoteTaker, developed in 1976 at Xerox PARC, was a precursor to later portable computers from Osborne Computer Corporation and Compaq, though it remained a prototype and did not enter production.

IBM 5100
Successful demonstrations of the 1973 SCAMP prototype led to the first commercial IBM 5100 portable microcomputer launched in 1975. The product incorporated an IBM PALM processor, 5 in CRT, full function keyboard and the ability to be programmed in both APL and BASIC for engineers, analysts, statisticians and other business problem-solvers. (IBM provided different models of the 5100 supporting only BASIC, only APL, or both selectable by a physical switch on the front panel.) IBM referred to its PALM processor as a microprocessor, though they used that term to mean a processor that executes microcode to implement a higher-level instruction set, rather than its conventional definition of a complete processor on a single silicon integrated circuit; the PALM processor was a large circuit board populated with over a dozen chips. In the late 1960s, such a machine would have been nearly as large as two desks and would have weighed about half a ton (0.5 ST). In comparison, the IBM 5100 weighed about 53 pounds (24 kg and very portable for that time).

MIT Suitcase Computer
The MIT Suitcase Computer, constructed in 1975, was the first known microprocessor-based portable computer. It was based on the Motorola 6800. Constructed in a Samsonite suitcase approximately 20x30x8 in and weighing approximately 20 lb, it had 4K of SRAM, a serial port to accept downloaded software and connect to a modem, a keyboard and a 40-column thermal printer taken from a cash register. Built by student David Emberson in the MIT Digital Systems Laboratory as a thesis project, it never entered production. It is currently in the collection of Dr. Hoo-Min D. Toong.

Micro Star or Small One
An early portable computer was manufactured in 1979 by GM Research, a small company in Santa Monica, California. The machine which was designed and patented by James Murez. It was called the Micro Star and later the name was changed to The Small One. Although Xerox claims to have designed the first such system, the machine by Murez predated anything on the market or that had been documented in any publication at the time – hence the patent was issued. As early as 1979, the U.S. Government was contracting to purchase these machines. Other major customers included Sandia Labs, General Dynamics, BBN (featured on the cover of their annual report in 1980 as the C.A.T. system) and several dozen private individuals and companies around the world. In 1979, Adam Osborne viewed the machine along with several hundred other visitors at the first computer show that was sponsored by the IEEE Westec in Los Angeles. Later that year the machine was also shown at the first COMDEX show.

Portal R2E CCMC

The portable micro computer; the "Portal" of the French company R2E Micral CCMC officially appeared in September 1980 at the Sicob show in Paris. The Portal was a portable microcomputer designed and marketed by the studies and developments department of the French firm R2E Micral in 1980 at the request of the company CCMC specializing in payroll and accounting. The Portal was based on an intel 8085 processor, 8-bit, clocked at 2 MHz. It was equipped with a central 64 KB RAM, a keyboard with 58 alpha numeric keys and 11 numeric keys (separate blocks), a 32-character screen, a floppy disk: capacity = 140 000 characters, of a thermal printer: speed = 28 characters / sec, an asynchronous channel, a synchronous channel, a 220 V power supply. Designed for an operating temperature of 15-35 C, it weighed 12 kg and its dimensions were 45 x. It provided total mobility. Its operating system was Prolog. A few hundred were sold between 1980 and 1983.

Osborne 1
The first mass-produced microprocessor-based portable computer released in 1981 was the Osborne 1, developed by Osborne, which owed much to the NoteTaker's design. The company had early success with the design and went public but later due to small screen sizes and other devices being released found trouble selling the Osborne. The Osborne 1 is about the size and weight of a sewing machine, and was advertised as the only computer that would fit underneath an airline seat.

Kaypro
Another early portable computer released in 1982 was named the Kaypro II, although it was the company's first commercially available product. Some of the press mocked its design—one magazine described Kaypro Corporation as "producing computers packaged in tin cans". Others raved about its value, as the company advertised the Kaypro II as "the US$1595 computer that sells for US$1595", some noting that the included software bundle had a retail value over US$1000 by itself, and by mid-1983 the company was selling more than 10,000 units a month, briefly making it the fifth-largest computer maker in the world. It managed to correct most of the Osborne 1's deficiencies: the screen was larger and showed more characters at once, the floppy drives stored over twice as much data, the case was more attractive-looking, and it was also much better-built and more reliable.

Grid Compass
The Grid Compass ran its own operating system, GRiD-OS. Its specialized software and high price (US$8,000–10,000) meant that it was limited to specialized applications. The main buyer was the U.S. government. NASA used it on the Space Shuttle during the early 1980s, as it was powerful, lightweight, and compact. The military Special Forces also purchased the machine, as it could be used by paratroopers in combat.

Compaq Portable and competitors
Although Columbia Data Product's MPC 1600, "Multi Personal Computer" came out in June 1983, one of the first extensively IBM PC compatible computers was the Compaq Portable. Eagle Computer then came out with their offering. and Corona Data Systems's PPC-400., the "portable" Hyperion Computer System. Both Eagle Computer and Columbia were sued by IBM for copyright infringement of its BIOS. They settled and were forced to halt production. Neither the Columbia nor the Eagle were nearly as IBM PC DOS compatible as Compaq's offerings.

Commodore SX-64
The first full-color portable computer was the Commodore SX-64 in January 1984..

Atari STacy
Originally announced in 1987, the Atari STacy was released to the public in December 1989 and was one of the first laptop-like portables.

Apple Macintosh Portable
Apple Inc. introduced and released the Macintosh Portable in 1989, though this device came with a battery, which added to its substantial weight. The Portable has features similar to the Atari STacy, include integrated trackball and clamshell case.

IBM PS/2 Portable
After release of IBM PC Convertible in 1986, IBM still produced classic portable computers, include released in 1989 PS/2 P70 (with upgrade in 1990 to P75), and IBM produce portables for up to release of PS/2 Note and PS/55note notebook lines.

Modern portables
In today's world of laptops, smart phones, and tablets, portable computers have evolved and are now mostly used for industrial, commercial or military applications.

title: Portable computer


text: Talk:Three Principles of the People

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

title: Talk:Three Principles of the People


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Cushman K. Davis

Cushman Kellogg Davis (June 16, 1838 – November 27, 1900) was an American Republican politician who served as the seventh Governor of Minnesota and as a U.S. Senator from Minnesota.

Early life and American Civil War
Davis was born in Henderson, New York to Horatio N. Davis and Clarissa Cushman. His family moved to Wisconsin Territory before he was a year old (his father went on to serve as a member of the Wisconsin State Senate several different times). Cushman went to school at Carroll College and then the University of Michigan, graduating in 1857. Admitted to the bar in 1860, he soon after found himself serving in the American Civil War in the 28th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry Regiment, serving first as a lieutenant in charge of Company B of this volunteer regiment. He was in action in the western campaigns, then in 1864 as an aide to General Willis A. Gorman.

Political career
Davis returned home in 1864 due to poor health. He relocated to St. Paul, Minnesota due to its reputation as a health resort and began to pursue a legal and political career. He was elected to the Minnesota State House of Representatives from 1867 to 1868 and was appointed as the United States District Attorney from 1868 to 1873. He resigned his position to run as the Republican candidate for Minnesota governor and won. During his term, he established a state board of railway commissioners, revised the state constitution to allow women to vote on school matters and hold elected office, and also provided assistance to farmers affected by a locust plague. He served one term from 1874 to 1876 and declined to be re-nominated for a second.

Return to legal career and second political career
Returning to his legal career, Davis successfully defended Judge Sherman Page in his 1878 impeachment trial. He also formed a partnership with Frank B. Kellogg and Cordenio Severance. In 1887, he was elected to the United States Senate. He would serve in the 50th, 51st, 52nd, 53rd, 54th, 55th, and 56th United States Congresses, from 1887 to 1900. He was involved with legislation related to pensions and the construction of the Soo Locks. Beginning in 1897 he was the chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and was closely involved with the sequence of events leading to the Spanish–American War. He was also present at the talks for the Treaty of Paris which ended the war.

Personal life
Davis married Laura Bowman in 1862. He remarried Anna Malcom Agnew Fox at some point in the 1880s.

Honors
Davis was elected a member of the American Antiquarian Society in 1894. He was elected a vice-president general of the National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution in 1895.

Death
Davis died while still in office in St. Paul on November 27, 1900. He is buried at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia.

title: Cushman K. Davis


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Talk:List of Naval Vessels of World War II

The correct plural of Kreuzer/cruiser is Kreuzer/cruisers. Very few German masculine nouns ending in -er take on an -n in the plural. These exceptions are Bauern, Vettern and Bayern, almost certainly the only ones. All the rest just keep the ending -er in the plural, e.g., der Bäcker - die Bäcker - baker/bakers; der Bäckermeister - die Bäckermeister - master baker/master bakers; der Kreuzer - die Kreuzer - cruiser/cruisers.

Candidate for deletion
This is a minimal list of ships, and is completely covered within the List of ships of World War II. Joshbaumgartner 22:24, 6 October 2005 (UTC)


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Divine command theory

Divine command theory (also known as theological voluntarism) is a meta-ethical theory which proposes that an action's status as morally good is equivalent to whether it is commanded by God. The theory asserts that what is moral is determined by God's commands and that for a person to be moral he is to follow God's commands. Followers of both monotheistic and polytheistic religions in ancient and modern times have often accepted the importance of God's commands in establishing morality.

Numerous variants of the theory have been presented: historically, figures including Saint Augustine, Duns Scotus, William of Ockham and Søren Kierkegaard have presented various versions of divine command theory; more recently, Robert Merrihew Adams has proposed a "modified divine command theory" based on the omnibenevolence of God in which morality is linked to human conceptions of right and wrong. Paul Copan has argued in favour of the theory from a Christian viewpoint, and Linda Trinkaus Zagzebski's divine motivation theory proposes that God's motivations, rather than commands, are the source of morality.

Semantic challenges to divine command theory have been proposed; the philosopher William Wainwright argued that to be commanded by God and to be morally obligatory do not have an identical meaning, which he believed would make defining obligation difficult. He also contended that, as knowledge of God is required for morality by divine command theory, atheists and agnostics could not be moral; he saw this as a weakness of the theory. Others have challenged the theory on modal grounds by arguing that, even if God's command and morality correlate in this world, they may not do so in other possible worlds. In addition, the Euthyphro dilemma, first proposed by Plato (in the context of polytheistic Greek religion), presented a dilemma which threatened either to result in the moral arbitrariness of morality itself, or to result in the irrelevance of God to morality. Divine command theory has also been criticised for its apparent incompatibility with the omnibenevolence of God, moral autonomy and religious pluralism, although some scholars have defended the theory from these challenges.

General form
Although "divine command" is the standard term in the literature, God addresses people in all sorts of ways. The scholastics distinguished between five different forms of God's revealed will, and they can be summarized in a Latin dactylic hexameter, "Praecipit et prohibet, permittit, consultit, implet". Praecipit means "gives precepts to". Precepts tell people to do something. They can include warning, admonishment or exhortation. Prohibet means "prohibits". A prohibition is a command not to do something. Permittit means "permits". A permission is not a command because a person is permitted both to do the thing and not to do it. Consultit means "counsels". They can include advice, instruction or invitation. They are different from commands as the latter generally generate obligation, and there is normally some expectation of condemnation if the command is not carried out. Finally, implet means "fulfils", which are directly effective commands. They do not need language-using human recipients. An example is "Let there be light", and there is light. Sometimes "command" is taken to mean the whole family of speech acts, but sometimes it only includes those prescriptions which generate obligation.

Philosophers including William of Ockham (c. 1287–1347), St Augustine (354–430), Duns Scotus (c. 1265–1308), and John Calvin (1509–1564) have presented various forms of divine command theory. The theory generally teaches that moral truth does not exist independently of God and that divine commands determine morality. Stronger versions of the theory assert that God's command is the only reason that a good action is moral, while weaker variations cast divine command as a vital component within a greater reason. The theory asserts that good actions are morally good as a result of divine command, and many religious believers subscribe to some form of divine command theory. Because of these premises, adherents believe that moral obligation is obedience to God's commands; what is morally right is what God desires.

Divine command theory features in the ethics of many contemporary religions – including Judaism, Islam, the Bahá'í Faith, and Christianity – as well as featuring in numerous polytheistic religions. In ancient Athens, citizens commonly held that moral truth was tied directly to divine commands, and religious piety was almost equivalent to morality. Although Christianity does not entail divine command theory, people commonly associate the two. DCT can be a plausible theory to Christians because the traditional conception of God as the creator of the universe parallels the idea that he created moral truths. The theory is supported by the Christian view that God is all-powerful because this implies that God creates moral truths, rather than moral truths existing independently of him, which seems inconsistent with his omnipotence.

Augustine

Saint Augustine offered a version of divine command theory that began by casting ethics as the pursuit of the supreme good, which delivers human happiness. He argued that to achieve this happiness, humans must love objects that are worthy of human love in the correct manner; this requires humans to love God, which then allows them to correctly love that which is worthy of being loved. Augustine's ethics proposed that the act of loving God enables humans to properly orient their loves, leading to human happiness and fulfilment. Augustine supported Plato's view that a well-ordered soul is a desirable consequence of morality. However, unlike Plato, he believed that achieving a well-ordered soul had a higher purpose: living in accordance with God's commands. His view of morality was thus heteronomous, as he believed in deference to a higher authority (God), rather than acting autonomously.

John Duns Scotus

Scholastic philosopher John Duns Scotus argued that the only moral obligations that God could not take away from humans involve loving God, as God is, definitionally, the most loveable thing. Scotus argued that the natural law, in the strictest sense, contains only what is self-evidently analytically true and that God could not make these statements false. This means that the commands of natural law do not depend on God's will, and thus form the first three commandments of the Ten Commandments. The last seven of the Ten Commandments do not belong to the natural law in the strictest sense. Whilst humanity's duties to God are self-evident, true by definition, and unchangeable even by God, mankind's duties to others (found on the second tablet) were arbitrarily willed by God and are within his power to revoke and replace (although, the third commandment, to honour the Sabbath and keep it holy, has a little of both, as humanity is absolutely obliged to render worship to God, but there is no obligation in natural law to do it on this day or that). Scotus does note, however that the last seven commandments:

"...are highly consonant with [the natural law], though they do not follow necessarily from first practical principles that are known in virtue of their terms and are necessarily known by any intellect that understands their terms. And it is certain that all the precepts of the second table belong to the natural law in this second way, since their rectitude is highly consonant with first practical principles that are known necessarily."

Scotus justifies this position with the example of a peaceful society, noting that the possession of private property is not necessary to have a peaceful society, but that "those of weak character" would be more easily made peaceful with private property than without. Hence, the last seven commandments do belong to the natural law, but not in the strictest sense, as they belong to the natural law by rectitude rather than by definition.

Thomas Aquinas
Whilst Thomas Aquinas, as a natural law theorist, is generally seen as holding that morality is not willed by God, Kelly James Clark and Anne Poortenga have presented a defence of divine command theory based on Aquinas' moral theory. Aquinas proposed a theory of natural law which asserted that something is moral if it works towards the purpose of human existence, and so human nature can determine what is moral. Clark and Poortenga argued that God created human nature and thus commanded a certain morality; hence he cannot arbitrarily change what is right or wrong for humans.

Immanuel Kant
The deontological ethics of Immanuel Kant has been cast as rejecting divine command theory by several figures, among whom is ethicist R. M. Hare. Kant's view that morality should be determined by the categorical imperative – duty to the moral law, rather than acting for a specific end – has been viewed as incompatible with divine command theory. Philosopher and theologian John E. Hare has noted that some philosophers see divine command theory as an example of Kant's heteronomous will – motives besides the moral law, which Kant regarded as non-moral. American philosopher Lewis White Beck takes Kant's argument to be a refutation of the theory that morality depends on divine authority. John E. Hare challenges this view, arguing that Kantian ethics should be seen as compatible with divine command theory.

Robert Adams

American philosopher Robert Merrihew Adams proposes what he calls a "modified divine command theory". Adams presents the basic form of his theory by asserting that two statements are equivalent:

 * 1) It is wrong to do X.
 * 2) It is contrary to God's commands to do X.

He proposes that God's commands precede moral truths and must be explained in terms of moral truths, not the other way around. Adams writes that his theory is an attempt to define what being ethically 'wrong' consists of and accepts that it is only useful to those within a Judeo-Christian context. In dealing with the criticism that a seemingly immoral act would be obligatory if God commanded it, he proposes that God does not command cruelty for its own sake. Adams does not propose that it would be logically impossible for God to command cruelty, rather that it would be unthinkable for him to do so because of his nature. Adams emphasises the importance of faith in God, specifically faith in God's goodness, as well as his existence.

Adams proposes that an action is morally wrong if and only if it defies the commands of a loving God. If cruelty was commanded, he would not be loving; Adams argued that, in this instance, God's commands would not have to be obeyed and also that his theory of ethical wrongness would break down. He proposed that divine command morality assumes that human concepts of right and wrong are met by God's commands and that the theory can only be applied if this is the case. Adams' theory attempts to counter the challenge that morality might be arbitrary, as moral commands are not based solely on the commands of God, but are founded on his omnibenevolence. It attempts to challenge the claim that an external standard of morality prevents God from being sovereign by making him the source of morality and his character the moral law.

Adams proposes that in many Judeo-Christian contexts, the term 'wrong' is used to mean being contrary to God's commands. In ethical contexts, he believes that 'wrong' entails an emotional attitude against an action and that these two uses of wrongness usually correlate. Adams suggests that a believer's concept of morality is founded in their religious belief and that right and wrong are tied to their belief in God; this works because God always commands what believers accept to be right. If God commanded what a believer perceived as wrong, the believer would not say it is right or wrong to disobey him; rather their concept of morality would break down.

Michael Austin writes that an implication of this modified divine command theory is that God cannot command cruelty for its own sake; this could be argued to be inconsistent with God's omnipotence. Aquinas argued that God's omnipotence should be understood as the ability to do all things that are possible: he attempted to refute the idea that God's inability to perform illogical actions challenges his omnipotence. Austin contends that commanding cruelty for its own sake is not illogical, so is not covered by Aquinas' defence, although Aquinas had argued that sin is the falling short of a perfect action and thus not compatible with omnipotence.

Alternative theories
Paul Copan argues from a Christian viewpoint that man, made in God's image, conforms to God's sense of morality. The description of actions as right or wrong are therefore relevant to God; a person's sense of what is right or wrong corresponds to God's. "We would not know goodness without God's endowing us with a moral constitution. We have rights, dignity, freedom, and responsibility because God has designed us this way. In this, we reflect God's moral goodness as His image-bearers."

- Paul Copan

As an alternative to divine command theory, Linda Zagzebski has proposed divine motivation theory, which still fits into a monotheistic framework. According to this theory, goodness is determined by God's motives, rather than by what he commands. Divine motivation theory is similar to virtue ethics because it considers the character of an agent, and whether they are in accordance with God's, as the standard for moral value. Zagzebski argues that things in the world have objective moral properties, such as being lovable, which are given to them through God's perception of them. God's attitude towards something is cast as a morally good attitude. The theory casts God as a good example for morality, and humans should imitate his virtues as much as is possible for finite, imperfect beings.

Semantic objections
Philosopher William Wainwright considered a challenge to the theory on semantic grounds, arguing that "being commanded by God" and "being obligatory" do not mean the same thing, contrary to what the theory suggests. He used the example of water not having an identical meaning to to propose that "being commanded by God" does not have an identical meaning to "being obligatory". This was not an objection to the truth of divine command theory, but Wainwright believed it demonstrated that the theory should not be used to formulate assertions about the meaning of obligation. Wainwright also noted that divine command theory might imply that one can only have moral knowledge if one has knowledge of God; Edward Wierenga argued that, if this is the case, the theory seems to deny atheists and agnostics moral knowledge. Hugh Storer Chandler has challenged the theory based on modal ideas of what might exist in different worlds. He suggested that, even if one accepts that being commanded by God and being morally right are the same, they may not be synonyms because they might be different in other possible worlds.

Moral motivation
Michael Austin has noted that divine command theory could be criticised for prompting people to be moral with impure motivations. He writes of the objection that a moral life should be sought because morality is valued, rather than to avoid punishment or receive a reward. This punishment and reward system of motivation could be seen as inadequate.

Euthyphro dilemma

The Euthyphro dilemma was proposed in Plato's dialogue between Socrates and Euthyphro. In the scene, Socrates and Euthyphro are discussing the nature of piety when Socrates presents the dilemma, which can be presented as the question "Is X good because God commands it, or does God command X because it is good?".

"Is the pious loved by the gods because it is pious, or is it pious because it is loved by the gods?"

- Plato

The Euthyphro dilemma can elicit the response that an action is good because God commands the action, or that God commands an action because it is good. If the first is chosen, it would imply that whatever God commands must be good: even if he commanded someone to inflict suffering, then inflicting suffering must be moral. If the latter is chosen, then morality is no longer dependent on God, defeating the divine command theory. Additionally, if God is subject to an external law, he is not sovereign or omnipotent, which would challenge the orthodox conception of God. Proponents of the Euthyphro dilemma might claim that divine command theory is obviously wrong because either answer challenges the ability of God to give moral laws.

William of Ockham responded to the Euthyphro Dilemma by 'biting the bullet'. He argued that, if God did command people to be cruel, then that would be morally obligatory, proposing that the only limitation to what God can make obligatory is the principle of non-contradiction. Robert Adams defended Ockham's view, noting that it is only a logical possibility that God would command what mankind considers to be immoral, not an actuality. Even if God could logically command these actions, he would not because that is not his character. Eleonore Stump and Norman Kretzmann have responded to the Euthyphro dilemma by appealing to the doctrine of divine simplicity, a concept associated with Aquinas and Aristotle which suggests that the substance and attributes of God are identical. They propose that God and goodness are identical and that this is what makes his commands good.

American philosopher William Alston responded to the Euthyphro dilemma by considering what it means for God to be morally good. If divine command theory is accepted, it implies that God is good because he obeys his own commands; Alston argued that this is not the case and that God's goodness is distinct from abiding by moral obligations. He suggested that a moral obligation implies that there is some possibility that the agent may not honour their obligation; Alston argued that this possibility does not exist for God, so his morality must be distinct from simply obeying his own commands. Alston contended that God is the supreme standard of morality and acts according to his character, which is necessarily good. There is no more arbitrariness in this view than accepting another moral standard.

Omnibenevolence
Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, and some more recent philosophers, challenged the theory of divine command because it seems to entail that God's goodness consists of his following his own commands. It is argued that, if divine command theory is accepted, God's obligations would be what he commanded himself to do; the concept of God commanding himself is seen as incoherent. Neither could God hold any virtues, as a virtue would be the disposition to follow his own commands – if he cannot logically command himself, then he cannot logically have any virtues. Edward Wierenga counters this by claiming that whatever God chooses to do is good, but that his nature means that his actions would always be praiseworthy. William Wainwright argues that, although God does not act because of his commands, it is still logical to say that God has reasons for his actions. He proposes that God is motivated by what is morally good and, when he commands what is morally good, it becomes morally obligatory.

Autonomy
Michael Austin draws attention to an objection from autonomy, which argues that morality requires an agent to freely choose which principles they live by. This challenges the view of divine command theory that God's will determines what is good because humans are no longer autonomous, but followers of an imposed moral law, making autonomy incompatible with divine command theory. Robert Adams challenges this criticism, arguing that humans must still choose to accept or reject God's commands and rely on their independent judgement about whether or not to follow them.

Pluralism
Austin considers the view that, in a world of religious pluralism, it is impossible to know which god's or religion's commands should be followed, especially because some religions contradict others, leaving it impossible to accept all of them. Within religions there are also various interpretations of what is commanded. Austin notes that some of the responses to the autonomy objection may be relevant, as an agent must choose whichever religion and morality they judge to be correct. He argues that divine command theory is also consistent with the view that moral truths can be found in all religions and that moral revelation can be found apart from religion. Heimir Geirsson and Margaret Holmgren argue against the view that different religions can lead to the same God because some religions are incompatible with each other (monotheistic and polytheistic religions have contrasting views of divinity, for example, and some Greek or Norse gods magnified human weaknesses). They argue that determining which god should be listened to remains a problem and that, even within a religion, contrasting views of God exist – the commands of God in the Old and New Testaments could seem to contradict each other.

title: Divine command theory


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Tramadol

Tramadol, sold under the brand name Ultram among others, is an opioid pain medication and a serotonin–norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor (SNRI) used to treat moderately severe pain. When taken by mouth in an immediate-release formulation, the onset of pain relief usually begins within an hour. It is also available by injection. It is available in combination with paracetamol (acetaminophen).

As is typical of opioids, common side effects include constipation, itchiness, and nausea. Serious side effects may include hallucinations, seizures, increased risk of serotonin syndrome, decreased alertness, and drug addiction. A change in dosage may be recommended in those with kidney or liver problems. It is not recommended in those who are at risk of suicide or in those who are pregnant. While not recommended in women who are breastfeeding, those who take a single dose should not generally have to stop breastfeeding. Tramadol is converted in the liver to O-desmethyltramadol (desmetramadol), an opioid with a stronger affinity for the μ-opioid receptor.

Tramadol was patented in 1972 and launched under the name "Tramal" in 1977 by the West German pharmaceutical company Grünenthal GmbH. In the mid-1990s, it was approved in the United Kingdom and the United States. It is available as a generic medication and marketed under many brand names worldwide. In 2021, it was the 41st most commonly prescribed medication in the United States, with more than 15million prescriptions.

Medical uses

Tramadol is used primarily to treat mild to severe pain, both acute and chronic. There is moderate evidence for use as a second-line treatment for fibromyalgia but it is not FDA approved for this use. Its use is approved for treatment of fibromyalgia as a secondary painkiller by the NHS.

Its analgesic effects take approximately an hour to be realized, and it takes from two to four hours to reach peak effect after oral administration with an immediate-release formulation. On a dose-by-dose basis, tramadol has about one-tenth the potency of morphine (thus 100 mg is commensurate with 10 mg morphine but may vary) and is practically equally potent when compared with pethidine and codeine. For moderate pain, its effectiveness is roughly equivalent to that of codeine in low doses and hydrocodone at very high doses. For severe pain it is less effective than morphine.

Pain reducing effects last approximately six hours. The potency of analgesia varies considerably as it depends on an individual's genetics. People with specific variants of CYP2D6 enzymes may not produce adequate amounts of the active metabolite (desmetramadol) for effective pain control.

Sleep medicine physicians sometimes prescribe tramadol (or other opiate medications) for refractory restless legs syndrome (RLS); that is, RLS that does not respond adequately to treatment with first-line medications such as dopamine agonists (like pramipexole) or alpha-2-delta (α2δ) ligands (gabapentinoids), often due to augmentation.

Contraindications
Individuals with certain genetic variations of CYP2D6 enzymes, which convert tramadol into an inactive molecule, may not experience enough pain relief from tramadol. These genetic polymorphisms are not currently routinely tested for in clinical practice.

Pregnancy and lactation
Use of tramadol during pregnancy is generally avoided, as it may cause some reversible withdrawal effects in the newborn. A small prospective study in France found, while an increased risk of miscarriages existed, no major malformations were reported in the newborn. Its use during lactation is also generally advised against, but a small trial found that infants breastfed by mothers taking tramadol were exposed to about 2.88% of the dose the mothers were taking. No evidence of this dose harming the newborn was seen.

Labor and delivery
Its use as an analgesic during labor is not advised due to its long onset of action (1 hour). The ratio of the mean concentration of the drug in the fetus compared to that of the mother when it is given intramuscularly for labor pains has been estimated to be 1:94.

Children
Its use in children is generally advised against, although it may be done under the supervision of a specialist. On 21 September 2015, the FDA started investigating the safety of tramadol in use in persons under the age of 17. The investigation was initiated because some of these people have experienced slowed or difficult breathing. The FDA lists age under 12 years old as a contraindication.

Elderly
The risk of opioid-related adverse effects such as respiratory depression, falls, cognitive impairment and sedation is increased. Tramadol may interact with other medications and increase the risk for adverse events.

Liver and kidney failure
The drug should be used with caution in those with liver or kidney failure, due to metabolism in the liver (to the active molecule desmetramadol) and elimination by the kidneys.

Side effects
The most common adverse effects of tramadol include nausea, dizziness, dry mouth, indigestion, abdominal pain, vertigo, vomiting, constipation, drowsiness, and headache. Other side effects may result from interactions with other medications. Tramadol has the same dose-dependent adverse effects as morphine including respiratory depression.

Dependence and withdrawal
Long-term use of high doses of tramadol causes physical dependence and withdrawal syndrome. These include both symptoms typical of opioid withdrawal and those associated with serotonin–norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor (SNRI) withdrawal; symptoms include numbness, tingling, paresthesia, and tinnitus. Psychiatric symptoms may include hallucinations, paranoia, extreme anxiety, panic attacks, and confusion. In most cases, tramadol withdrawal will set in 12–20 hours after the last dose, but this can vary. Tramadol withdrawal typically lasts longer than that of other opioids. Seven days or more of acute withdrawal symptoms can occur as opposed to typically 3 or 4 days for other codeine analogs.

Overdose
The clinical presentation in overdose cases can vary but typically includes neurological, cardiovascular, and gastrointestinal manifestations. The predominant neurological symptoms are seizures and altered levels of consciousness, ranging from somnolence to coma. Seizures are particularly notable due to tramadol's lowering of the seizure threshold, occurring in approximately half of acute poisoning cases. Patients often exhibit tachycardia and mild hypertension. Gastrointestinal disturbances such as nausea and vomiting are common, and agitation, anxiety, and cold and clammy skin may also be present.

While less common, severe complications like respiratory depression and serotonin syndrome can occur, particularly in polydrug overdoses involving other CNS depressants (such as benzodiazepines, opioids, and alcohol) and agents with serotonergic activity. Additionally, Individuals with genetic variations leading to CYP2D6 enzyme duplication (rapid metabolizers) may have an increased risk of adverse effects, due to faster conversion of tramadol to its active metabolite.

Acute tramadol overdose is generally not life-threatening, with most fatalities resulting from polysubstance overdose. Management includes cardiovascular monitoring, activated charcoal administration, hydration, and treatment of seizures. Naloxone, an opioid antagonist, can partially reverse some effects of tramadol overdose, particularly respiratory depression. However, its use may increase the risk of seizures due to unopposed alpha-adrenergic stimulation. For suspected serotonin syndrome, cyproheptadine, a serotonin antagonist, is considered an effective antidote.

The incidence of tramadol-related overdose deaths has been on the rise in certain regions. For instance, Northern Ireland has reported an increased frequency of such cases. In 2013, England and Wales recorded 254 tramadol-related deaths, while Florida reported 379 cases in 2011. In 2011, 21,649 emergency room visits in the United States were related to tramadol. The likely explanation for these observations is due to increase in frequency of prescriptions and use due to easier access due to lighter regulatory scheduling by authorities but this is starting to change. In 2021, Health Canada announced tramadol would be added to Schedule I of the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act and to the Narcotic Control Regulations due to tramadol being suspected of having contributed to 18 reported deaths in Canada between 2006 and 2017.

Interactions

Tramadol can have pharmacodynamic, pharmacokinetic, and pharmacogenetic interactions.

Tramadol is metabolized by CYP2D6 enzymes which contribute to the metabolism of approximately 25% of all medications. Any medications with the ability to inhibit or induce these enzymes may interact with tramadol. These include common antiarrhythmics, antiemetics, antidepressants (sertraline, paroxetine, and fluoxetine in particular), antipsychotics, analgesics, and tamoxifen.

Due to tramadol's serotonergic effects, tramadol has the potential to contribute to the development of an acute or chronic hyper-serotonin state called serotonin syndrome when used concurrently with other pro-serotonergic medications such as antidepressants (SSRIs, SNRIs, tricyclics, MAOIs), antipsychotics, triptans, cold medications containing dextromethorphan, and some herbal products such as St. John's wort.

Concurrent use of 5-HT3 antagonists such as ondansetron, dolasetron, and palonosetron may reduce the effectiveness of both drugs.

Tramadol also acts as an opioid agonist and thus can increase the risk for side effects when used with other opioid and opioid-containing analgesics (such as morphine, pethidine, tapentadol, oxycodone, fentanyl, and Tylenol 3).

Tramadol increases the risk for seizures by lowering the seizure threshold. Using other medications that lower seizure threshold - such as antipsychotic medications, bupropion (an anti-depressant and smoking cessation drug), and amphetamines - can further increases this risk.

Mechanism of action
Tramadol induces analgesic effects through a variety of different targets on the noradrenergic system, serotoninergic system, and opioid receptors system. Tramadol exists as a racemic mixture, the positive enantiomer inhibits serotonin reuptake while the negative enantiomer inhibits noradrenaline re-uptake, by binding to and blocking the transporters. Tramadol has also been shown to act as a serotonin releasing agent. Both enantiomers of tramadol are agonists of the μ-opioid receptor and its M1 metabolite, O-desmetramadol, is also a μ-opioid receptor agonist but is 6 times more potent than tramadol itself. All these effects work synergistically to induce analgesia.

Tramadol has been found to possess these actions:
 * Agonist of the μ-opioid receptor (MOR) and to a far lesser extent of the δ-opioid receptor (DOR) and κ-opioid receptor (KOR)
 * Serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SRI) and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor; hence, an SNRI
 * Serotonin 5-HT2C receptor antagonist
 * M1 and M3 muscarinic acetylcholine receptor antagonist
 * α7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor antagonist
 * NMDA receptor antagonist (very weak)
 * TRPA1 inhibitor

Tramadol acts on the opioid receptors through its major active metabolite desmetramadol, which has as much as 700-fold higher affinity for the MOR relative to tramadol. Moreover, tramadol itself has been found to possess no efficacy in activating the MOR in functional activity assays, whereas desmetramadol activates the receptor with high intrinsic activity (Emax equal to that of morphine). As such, desmetramadol is exclusively responsible for the opioid effects of tramadol. Both tramadol and desmetramadol have pronounced selectivity for the MOR over the DOR and KOR in terms of binding affinity.

Tramadol is well-established as an SRI. In addition, a few studies have found that it also acts as a serotonin releasing agent (1–10 μM), similar in effect to fenfluramine. The serotonin releasing effects of tramadol could be blocked by sufficiently high concentrations of the serotonin reuptake inhibitor 6-nitroquipazine, which is in accordance with other serotonin releasing agents such as fenfluramine and MDMA. However, two more recent studies failed to find a releasing effect of tramadol at respective concentrations up to 10 and 30 μM. In addition to serotonergic activity, tramadol is also a norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor. It is not a norepinephrine releasing agent. Tramadol does not inhibit the reuptake or induce the release of dopamine.

A positron emission tomography imaging study found that single oral 50-mg and 100-mg doses of tramadol to human volunteers resulted in 34.7% and 50.2% respective mean occupation of the serotonin transporter (SERT) in the thalamus. The estimated median effective dose (ED50) for SERT occupancy hence was 98.1 mg, which was associated with a plasma tramadol level of about 330 ng/mL (1,300 nM). The estimated maximum daily dosage of tramadol of 400 mg (100 mg q.i.d.) would result in as much as 78.7% occupancy of the SERT (in association with a plasma concentration of 1,220 ng/mL or 4,632 nM). This is close to that of SSRIs, which occupy the SERT by 80% or more.

Peak plasma concentrations during treatment with clinical dosages of tramadol have generally been found to be in the range of 70 to 592 ng/mL (266–2,250 nM) for tramadol and 55 to 143 ng/mL (221–573 nM) for desmetramadol. The highest levels of tramadol were observed with the maximum oral daily dosage of 400 mg per day divided into one 100-mg dose every 6 hours (i.e., four 100-mg doses evenly spaced out per day). Some accumulation of tramadol occurs with chronic administration; peak plasma levels with the maximum oral daily dosage (100 mg q.i.d.) are about 16% higher and the area-under-the-curve levels 36% higher than following a single oral 100-mg dose. Positron emission tomography imaging studies have reportedly found that tramadol levels are at least four-fold higher in the brain than in plasma. Conversely, brain levels of desmetramadol "only slowly approach those in plasma". The plasma protein binding of tramadol is only 4–20%; hence, almost all tramadol in circulation is free, thus bioactive.

Correspondence to effects
Co-administration of quinidine, a potent CYP2D6 enzyme inhibitor, with tramadol, a combination which results in markedly reduced levels of desmetramadol, was found not to significantly affect the analgesic effects of tramadol in human volunteers. However, other studies have found that the analgesic effects of tramadol are significantly decreased or even absent in CYP2D6 poor metabolizers. The analgesic effects of tramadol are only partially reversed by naloxone in human volunteers, hence indicating that its opioid action is unlikely the sole factor; tramadol's analgesic effects are also partially reversed by α2-adrenergic receptor antagonists such as yohimbine, the 5-HT3 receptor antagonist ondansetron, and the 5-HT7 receptor antagonists SB-269970 and SB-258719. Pharmacologically, tramadol is similar to tapentadol and methadone in that it not only binds to the MOR, but also inhibits the reuptake of serotonin and norepinephrine due to its action on the noradrenergic and serotonergic systems, such as its "atypical" opioid activity.

Tramadol has inhibitory actions on the 5-HT2C receptor. Antagonism of 5-HT2C could be partially responsible for tramadol's reducing effect on depressive and obsessive–compulsive symptoms in patients with pain and co-morbid neurological illnesses. 5-HT2C blockade may also account for its lowering of the seizure threshold, as 5-HT2C knockout mice display significantly increased vulnerability to epileptic seizures, sometimes resulting in spontaneous death. However, the reduction of seizure threshold could be attributed to tramadol's putative inhibition of GABAA receptors at high doses (significant inhibition at 100 μM). In addition, desmetramadol is a high-affinity ligand of the DOR, and activation of this receptor could be involved in tramadol's ability to provoke seizures in some individuals, as DOR agonists are well known for inducing seizures.

Nausea and vomiting caused by tramadol are thought to be due to activation of the 5-HT3 receptor via increased serotonin levels. In accordance, the 5-HT3 receptor antagonist ondansetron can be used to treat tramadol-associated nausea and vomiting. Tramadol and desmetramadol themselves do not bind to the 5-HT3 receptor.

Pharmacokinetics

Tramadol is metabolised in the liver via the cytochrome P450 isozyme CYP2B6, CYP2D6, and CYP3A4, being O- and N-demethylated to five different metabolites. Of these, desmetramadol (O-desmethyltramadol) is the most significant, since it has 200 times the μ-affinity of (+)-tramadol, and furthermore has an elimination half-life of 9 hours, compared with 6 hours for tramadol itself. As with codeine, in the 6% of the population who have reduced CYP2D6 activity (hence reducing metabolism), a reduced analgesic effect is seen. Those with decreased CYP2D6 activity require a dose increase of 30% to achieve the same degree of pain relief as those with a normal level of CYP2D6 activity.

Phase II hepatic metabolism renders the metabolites water-soluble, which are excreted by the kidneys. Thus, reduced doses may be used in renal and hepatic impairment.

Its volume of distribution is around 306 L after oral administration and 203 L after parenteral administration.

Chemistry
Tramadol is marketed as a racemic mixture of both R- and S-stereoisomers, because the two isomers complement each other's analgesic activities. The (+)-isomer is predominantly active as an opiate with a higher affinity for the μ-opiate receptor (20 times higher affinity than the (-)-isomer).

Synthesis and stereoisomerism
The chemical synthesis of tramadol is described in the literature. Tramadol [2-(dimethylaminomethyl)-1-(3-methoxyphenyl)cyclohexanol] has two stereogenic centers at the cyclohexane ring. Thus, 2-(dimethylaminomethyl)-1-(3-methoxyphenyl)cyclohexanol may exist in four different configurational forms: The synthetic pathway leads to the racemate (1:1 mixture) of (1R,2R)-isomer and the (1S,2S)-isomer as the main products. Minor amounts of the racemic mixture of the (1R,2S)-isomer and the (1S,2R)-isomer are formed as well. The isolation of the (1R,2R)-isomer and the (1S,2S)-isomer from the diastereomeric minor racemate [(1R,2S)-isomer and (1S,2R)-isomer] is realized by the recrystallization of the hydrochlorides. The drug tramadol is a racemate of the hydrochlorides of the (1R,2R)-(+)- and the (1S,2S)-(−)-enantiomers. The resolution of the racemate [(1R,2R)-(+)-isomer / (1S,2S)-(−)-isomer] was described employing (R)-(−)- or (S)-(+)-mandelic acid. This process does not find industrial application, since tramadol is used as a racemate, despite known different physiological effects of the (1R,2R)- and (1S,2S)-isomers, because the racemate showed higher analgesic activity than either enantiomer in animals and in humans.
 * (1R,2R)-isomer
 * (1S,2S)-isomer
 * (1R,2S)-isomer
 * (1S,2R)-isomer

Detection in biological fluids
Tramadol and desmetramadol may be quantified in blood, plasma, serum, or saliva to monitor for abuse, confirm a diagnosis of poisoning or assist in the forensic investigation of a sudden death. Most commercial opiate immunoassay screening tests do not cross-react significantly with tramadol or its major metabolites, so chromatographic techniques must be used to detect and quantitate these substances. The concentration of desmetramadol in the blood or plasma of a person who has taken tramadol is generally 10–20% those of the parent drug.

Discrepant reports on natural agency
In 2013, researchers Michel de Waard (then at Université Joseph Fourier, Grenoble and Grenoble Institute of Neuroscience, La Tronche ) reported in Angewandte Chemie that tramadol was found in relatively high concentrations (>1%) in the roots of the African pin cushion tree, Nauclea latifolia, concluding that it was a natural product in addition to its being a later human synthetic, and presenting a putative biosynthetic hypothesis for its origin.

In 2014, Michael Spiteller (Technische Universität Dortmund) and collaborators reported results, also in Angewandte Chemie, that supported the conclusion that the presence of tramadol in those tree roots was the result of tramadol having been ingested by humans and having been administered to cattle (by farmers in the region); Spiteller et al. presented data that tramadol and its metabolites were present in animal excreta, which they then argue contaminated soil around the trees. They further observed that tramadol and its mammalian metabolites were found in tree roots in the far north of Cameroon where the commercial drug was in use, but not in the south where it was not being administered.

A news report appearing in Lab Times at the time of the latter, 2014 paper, and reporting on its contents, also reported that Michel de Waard (communicating author of the original paper) continued to contest the notion that tramadol in tree roots was the result of anthropogenic contamination. The point was made that samples were taken from trees that grew in national parks, where livestock were forbidden, and it quoted de Waard extensively, who stated that "thousands and thousands of tramadol-treated cattle sitting around a single tree and urinating" would be required to produce the concentrations discovered.

In 2016, Spiteller and colleagues followed up their preceding work with a radiocarbon analysis that supported their contention that the tramadol found in N. latifolia roots was of human synthetic origin rather being plant-derived.

Formulations
Available dosage forms include liquids, syrups, drops, elixirs, effervescent tablets and powders for mixing with water, capsules, tablets including extended-release formulations, suppositories, compounding powder, and injections.

Patent history
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved tramadol in March 1995, and an extended-release (ER) formulation in September 2005. ER Tramadol was protected by US patents nos. 6,254,887 and 7,074,430. The FDA listed the patents' expiration as 10 May 2014. However, in August 2009, US District Court for the District of Delaware ruled the patents invalid, a decision upheld the following year by the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. Manufacture and distribution of generic equivalents of Ultram ER in the United States was therefore permitted prior to the expiration of the patents.

Legal status
Effective 18 August 2014, tramadol has been placed into Schedule IV of the federal Controlled Substances Act in the United States. Before that, some US states had already classified tramadol as a Schedule IV controlled substance under their respective state laws.

Tramadol is classified in Schedule 4 (prescription only) in Australia, rather than as a Schedule 8 Controlled Drug (Possession without authority illegal) like most other opioids.

Effective May 2008, Sweden classified tramadol as a controlled substance in the same category as codeine and dextropropoxyphene, but allows a normal prescription to be used.

On 10 June 2014, the United Kingdom's Home Office classified tramadol as a Class C, Schedule 3 controlled drug, but exempted it from the safe custody requirement.

On 1 October 2023, New Zealand's Medsafe reclassified tramadol as a Class C2 Controlled Drug (in addition to its existing status as a prescription only medication).

Misuse
Illicit use of the drug is thought to be a major factor in the success of the Boko Haram terrorist organization. When used at higher doses, the drug "can produce similar effects to heroin." One former member said, "whenever we took tramadol, nothing mattered to us anymore except what we were sent to do because it made us very high and very bold, it was impossible to go on a mission without taking it." Tramadol is also used as a coping mechanism in the Gaza Strip. It is also abused in the United Kingdom, inspiring the title of the TV show Frankie Boyle's Tramadol Nights (2010).

From March 2019, the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) banned the drug, after riders were using the painkiller to improve their performance.

Investigational uses

 * Diabetic neuropathy
 * Antidepressant
 * Postherpetic neuralgia
 * Premature ejaculation
 * Adjunct to local anesthesia

Veterinary medicine
Tramadol may be used to treat post-operative, injury-related, and chronic (e.g., cancer-related) pain in dogs and cats as well as rabbits, coatis, many small mammals including rats and flying squirrels, guinea pigs, ferrets, and raccoons.

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Talk:Induction hob

Is this actually about glass ceramic, or something made out of glass ceramic? كسيپ Cyp 23:23 21 Jun 2003 (UTC)

Editing Talk:Induction hob (comment)
I agree it can be merged, but only if both names (hob and cooker) redirect to the same article. You see, there would be a whole country who couldn't find the article if it was only referred to as a hob.

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Talk:Divine command theory

Aquinas
Should he be in this article? He's not someone I think most would call a theological voluntarist. And the section on his views makes it difficult to tell if he accepts the DCT as offered or if he's a theological voluntarist.68.80.130.184 (talk) 15:00, 24 June 2017 (UTC)

William Wainwright
This article mentions a philosopher called William Wainwright. I have just looked up William Wainwright on Wikipedia and found that there are several people with this name who have articles in Wikipedia, but none of them are philosophers. Vorbee (talk) 17:28, 29 April 2018 (UTC)

Abraham
How come this is a good article and there are no mentions of Abraham, perhaps the first example of the divine command theory?  The Blue  Rider   17:23, 25 December 2023 (UTC)

god in the form of Korean 41.121.98.46 (talk) 19:26, 18 May 2024 (UTC)

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Picander

Christian Friedrich Henrici (January 14, 1700 – May 10, 1764), writing under the pen name Picander, was a German poet and librettist for many of the cantatas which Johann Sebastian Bach composed in Leipzig.

Henrici was born in Stolpen. He studied law at Wittenberg and Leipzig. He wrote to supplement his income from tutoring and continued even after obtaining regular employment as a civil servant.

Librettist for Johann Sebastian Bach
Bach moved to Leipzig in 1723. There is uncertainty as to who was writing the libretti he set during his first years in the city. The authors of the libretti for the Chorale cantata cycle of 1724/25 are anonymous. By 1725, Henrici and Bach were working together. Some of Bach's most important works used Henrici's libretti. Most notably their collaboration was on religious works in a Lutheran tradition such as the St Matthew Passion (BWV 244). However, they also produced secular works such as the Shepherds' Cantata of 1725 and the later Coffee Cantata and Peasant Cantata.

Sammlung Erbaulicher Gedanken
For a year from the start of Advent 1724 Picander had published spiritual poetry in weekly editions, which he collected in 1725 as Sammlung Erbaulicher Gedanken. This caught Bach's eye who started using Picander's poetry for his cantatas from 1725, and used poems from Picander's first collection in his St Matthew Passion.

Ernst-Schertzhaffte und Satyrische Gedichte
All volumes of Picander's Ernst-schertzhaffte und satyrische Gedichte (Leipzig, 1727–51) contain texts set to music by J. S. Bach, including those for the St Matthew Passion and its associated funeral music for Prince Leopold of Anhalt-Cöthen (Klagt, Kinder, klagt es aller Welt, BWV 244a).

Volumes and editions:
 * Vol. I: 1727, reprinted in 1732 and 1736.
 * Vol. II: 1729, reprinted in 1734.
 * Vol. III: 1732, reprinted in 1737. This volume contained texts published in 1728 as Cantaten auf die Sonn- und Fest-Tage durch das gantze Jahr.
 * Vol. IV: 1737.
 * Reworked fourth edition, containing a selection of previous editions, in two volumes: 1748.
 * Vol. V: 1751.

Lost scores and reconstructions
In some cases, Henrici's texts have survived and Bach's settings have not. The lost scores include cases where the music has vanished without trace and others where there are clues as to what music Bach used to set the words, allowing the possibility of reconstruction.

Lost scores
In the preface to the third volume (1732) Picander claimed that J. S. Bach set a whole cycle of his cantata texts in 1729. Only nine of J. S. Bach's settings are known to have survived (they include the cantatas for Christmas Ehre sei Gott in der Höhe, BWV 197a, New Year Gott, wie dein Name, so ist auch dein Ruhm, BWV 171, Whit Monday Ich liebe den Höchsten von ganzem Gemüte, BWV 174, and the feast of St Michael Man singet mit Freuden vom Sieg, BWV 149) the statement made in the preface has been debated.

Reconstructed scores
Examples of reconstructions include the funeral music for Prince Leopold and the St Mark Passion (BWV 247) where Bach's music can be reconstructed because it is known to have been used in surviving pieces. Bach sometimes returned to compositions commissioned for one-off occasions and recycled the music. Picander was able to help the composer in this process by providing metrically similar new texts, effectively setting words to Bach's music.

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Willis A. Gorman

Willis Arnold Gorman (January 12, 1816 – May 20, 1876) was an American lawyer, soldier, politician, and a general in the Union Army during the American Civil War.

Biography
Gorman was born near Flemingsburg, Kentucky. He was the only child of David and Elizabeth Gorman, both of Irish descent. In 1835, the family moved to Bloomington, Indiana, where Gorman attended Indiana University and then established a law practice. In January 1836, he married Martha Stone in Bloomington. By 1837 he began his move into politics, becoming a clerk in the Indiana State Senate. From 1841 to 1844, he was elected to the Indiana House of Representatives.

In 1845 he returned to Indiana University and completed his law degree. In 1846 he volunteered for the army, enlisted as a private, and went to fight in the Mexican–American War. He was appointed as a major in the 3rd Indiana Volunteer Infantry, and led an independent rifle battalion at the Battle of Buena Vista, where he was severely wounded. When his term of service expired, he re-enlisted and was appointed colonel of the 4th Indiana. He served in the capture of Huamantla and in several other campaigns and battles under General Joseph Lane. In 1848 he was civil and military governor of Puebla, but soon after he returned to Indiana. He served in the United States House of Representatives from March 4, 1849, to March 3, 1853, as a representative of that state.

Gorman, politically a Democrat, served as the second Territorial Governor of Minnesota from May 15, 1853, to April 23, 1857, at the appointment of President Franklin Pierce. During his time as Governor of Minnesota, he masterminded an unsuccessful plan to move the capital of the territory from St. Paul to St. Peter, where he owned land that would have been eminently suitable for use as the new capitol grounds. The plan was sidetracked when legislator Joe Rolette disappeared with the bill until the last seconds of the legislative session.

He spent a number of years practicing law in St. Paul, Minnesota, and served in the Minnesota House of Representatives from May 11, 1858, to January 1859.

With the secession of several Southern slave states, Gorman offered his services to the army. He was appointed Colonel of the 1st Minnesota Infantry, serving in the First Battle of Bull Run on July 21, 1861. On September 7, 1861, he was appointed brigadier general of volunteers and assigned to command a brigade in the II Corps in Army of the Potomac during the Peninsular Campaign. His troops suffered high casualties during the Battle of Antietam in an ill-fated attack on Confederate positions in the West Woods. Later in the year, he was assigned to command the District of Eastern Arkansas.

Postwar
In 1864 he left the service and resumed his law practice in St. Paul. He was elected City attorney in 1869, and continued in that position until his death. He is buried in Oakland Cemetery in St. Paul.

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Samuel Medary

Samuel Medary (February 25, 1801 – November 7, 1864) was an American newspaper owner and politician.

Biography
Born and raised in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, he settled in Bethel, Ohio, in 1825. After a term in the Ohio House of Representatives (1834) and the Ohio State Senate (1836–38) as a Jackson Democrat, he purchased a newspaper in Columbus that became the Ohio Statesman, which he edited until 1857. He was active at the National Democratic Conventions at Baltimore in 1844, where he was instrumental in the nomination of James K. Polk; and at Cincinnati in 1856, where he was the President pro tem. President James Buchanan appointed him as the third Territorial Governor of Minnesota from April 23, 1857, to May 24, 1858. Minnesota became a state on May 11, 1858, and elected Henry Hastings Sibley as the state's first governor.

Samuel Medary was also Governor of Kansas Territory from December 1858 to December 1860. William F. Wheeler was territory Librarian and the Governor's Secretary while in office.

Returning to Columbus, Ohio, he established a newspaper he named The Crisis. While living in Columbus, Medary resided at his estate, Northwood Place, located along the Worthington Pike, now North High Street, near Northwood Avenue. Medary was indicted by a federal grand jury in 1864 for conspiracy against the government and was arrested. He was released on bond, but died in Columbus, Ohio before he could be tried.

Legacy
One of the first townsites in Dakota Territory is named after Medary. The town of Medaryville, Indiana, was also named after him. In North Columbus, Ohio (annexed to the city of Columbus in the late 1800s), a street dating back to the early 1900s Medary Avenue was named for him. Because Columbus Public Schools names its schools for the street on which they are located, Medary Elementary School also carried his surname.

Medary was buried at Green Lawn Cemetery, Columbus, Ohio.

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User:MaggieL

http://voicenet.com/~maggie

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NGC 604

NGC 604 is an H II region inside the Triangulum Galaxy. It was discovered by William Herschel on September 11, 1784. It is among the largest H II regions in the Local Group of galaxies; at the galaxy's estimated distance of 2.7 million light-years, its longest diameter is roughly 1,520 light years (~460 parsecs), over 40 times the size of the visible portion of the Orion Nebula. It is over 6,300 times more luminous than the Orion Nebula, and if it were at the same distance it would outshine Venus. Its gas is ionized by a cluster of massive stars at its center with 200 stars of spectral type O and WR, a mass of 105 solar masses, and an age of 3.5 million years; however, unlike the Large Magellanic Cloud's Tarantula Nebula central cluster (R136), NGC 604's one is much less compact and more similar to a large stellar association.

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Contract killing

Contract killing (also known as murder-for-hire) is a form of murder or assassination in which one party hires another party to kill a targeted person or people. It involves an agreement which includes some form of compensation, monetary or otherwise. It is an illegal agreement. Either party may be a person, group, or organization. Contract killing has been associated with organized crime, government conspiracies, dictatorships, and vendettas. For example, in the United States, the Italian- and Jewish-American organized crime gang Murder, Inc. committed hundreds of murders on behalf of the National Crime Syndicate during the 1930s and '40s.

Contract killing provides the hiring party with the advantage of not having to carry out the actual killing, making it more difficult for law enforcement to connect the hirer with the murder. The likelihood that authorities will establish that party's guilt for the committed crime, especially due to lack of forensic evidence linked to the contracting party, makes the case more difficult to attribute to the hiring party. Contract killers may exhibit serial killer traits, but are generally not classified as such because of third-party killing objectives and detached financial and emotional incentives. Nevertheless, there are occasionally individuals that are labeled as both contract killers and serial killers.

A contract killer is colloquially known as a hitman. Contract killers who work for criminal organizations are often known as enforcers.

Statistics
A study by the Australian Institute of Criminology of 162 contract murders and attempted contract murders in Australia between 1989 and 2002 indicated that the most common reason for murder-for-hire was insurance policy payouts. The study also found that payments varied from $5,000 to $30,000 per killing, with an average of $15,000, and that the most commonly used weapons were firearms. Contract killings accounted for 2% of murders in Australia during that time period. Contract killings generally make up a small percentage of murders. For example, they accounted for about 5% of all murders in Scotland from 1993 to 2002.

Perpetrators

 * Vincent "Mad Dog" Coll, an Irish-American hitman from Gweedore, County Donegal, who worked for Salvatore Maranzano, Dutch Schultz, and Owney Madden.
 * Elmer "Trigger" Burke, notorious hitman and supporting player in the Great Brink's Robbery
 * Maia "Mainha" Cunha, a notorious Brazilian hitman; he is considered the biggest hitman in Northeast Brazil and his targets were usually northeastern politicians, mostly mayors of cities in the interior of northeastern Brazil.
 * Glennon Engleman, American dentist who moonlighted as a hitman.
 * Ray Ferritto, Italian-American hitman and soldier for the Cleveland and Los Angeles crime families, best known for the October 1977 car bombing murder of Irish mob boss Danny Greene in Lyndhurst, Ohio; later Ferritto became a government witness and testified against the mob.
 * Christopher Dale Flannery, reputed Australian hitman.
 * El Chino Ántrax, a notorious Mexican drug lord and hitman, he was a high-ranking member of Sinaloa Cartel and the leader of Los Antrax, a feared hitman squad and an armed wing of the Sinaloa Cartel.
 * Giuseppe Greco, a Sicilian hitman who killed at least 58 people during the Second Mafia War.
 * Charles Harrelson, American hitman, father of actor Woody Harrelson.
 * Patrick Holland, Irish alleged hitman for the Dublin-based drug trafficking ring led by John Gilligan and John Traynor. Accused by Irish law enforcement of having been responsible for the 1996 murder of investigative journalist Veronica Guerin.
 * Richard Kuklinski, an alleged hitman for the DeCavalcante crime family and the Five Families who claimed responsibility for more than 200 murders.
 * Marinko Magda, Serbian hitman convicted for 11 murders.
 * Tommy "Karate" Pitera, an Italian-American hitman and soldier in the Bonanno crime family. He was known for having serial killer-like characteristics, and was a skilled martial artist.
 * Alexander "Sasha-Soldier" Pustovalov, Russian mafia hitman and Orekhovskaya gang soldier. Pustovalov has 22 confirmed kills.
 * Abe Reles, hitman and initial leader of Murder, Inc. along with Martin Goldstein.
 * Julio Santana (criminal), a notorious Brazilian hitman; he is considered by the Brazilian and international media as "the deadliest hitman in history", for having killed 492 people officially (more than 500 unofficially), considered the highest number of fatal victims killed by a single hitman.
 * Frank "the Irishman" Sheeran, a union official and mob hitman, who was associated with Russell Bufalino. Sheeran claimed to have murdered former Teamsters president Jimmy Hoffa.
 * Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel, a Jewish hitman who headed the Bugs and Meyer Mob and was a hitman for Murder, Inc.; Siegel was also the Italian mob's main hitman during Prohibition.
 * Alexander Solonik, Russian hitman, known for carrying a firearm in each hand. Alexander Solonik was a main killer in the Kurganskaya criminal group.
 * Harry Strauss, hitman for Murder, Inc. he is possibly the most prolific hitman to have ever lived, committing 100 (possibly 500) murders during his career.
 * Jhon Jairo "Popeye" Velásquez, Colombian hitman who was part of the Medellín Cartel.
 * Ilpo Larha, Finnish criminal who also became Finland's first known hitman in 1992
 * Robert Young, a.k.a. Willie Sanchez, an escaped convict and contract killer employed by an African-American organized crime gang headed by Nicky Barnes.
 * Z, a 15-year-old minor who was convicted of murdering an insurance agent under the orders of her husband in Singapore in 2001. He was detained at the President's Pleasure for 17 years.
 * Kenneth Eugene Smith, Billy Gray Williams and John Forrest Parker, the three hitmen who murdered a pastor's wife on the orders of the pastor (who committed suicide) in 1988. Parker was executed in 2010, while Williams was given a life sentence and later died in prison in 2020, and Smith was executed in 2024.

Victims

 * Griselda Blanco, the subject of the film Cocaine Godmother (2017), a former drug lord gunned down on September 3, 2012.
 * Harry Greenberg, a Mafia associate of Charles "Lucky" Luciano, Meyer Lansky, and Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel. He was killed by Siegel, Whitey Krakower, Albert Tannenbaum, and Frankie Carbo in 1939.
 * Danny Hogan, an Irish mob boss based in the Twin Cities, whose 1928 assassination, allegedly by disgruntled associate Harry Sawyer is believed to be the first murder by car bombing in the history of American organized crime.
 * Annie Leong, an insurance agent in Singapore who was murdered by a minor hired by her husband, who was subsequently sentenced to death and later executed.
 * Walter Liggett, an investigative journalist specializing in exposes of collusion between Depression era organized crime in the Twin Cities and senior politicians from Minnesota's ruling Farmer-Labor Party. Assassinated before his wife and children in December 1935, allegedly by Kid Cann, an enforcer for a Minneapolis-based Jewish-American organized crime gang called the "AZ Syndicate".
 * Li Fuguo, a Tang dynasty eunuch killed by a hitman hired by Emperor Tang Daizong.
 * Salvatore Maranzano, a Castellammarese Mafia boss and rival to Masseria in the Castellammarese War who was killed by Siegel and several other men in 1931.
 * Dan Markel, an attorney and legal academic murdered in Tallahassee, Florida, in 2014.
 * Joe Masseria, a Mafia boss murdered by Siegel, Vito Genovese, Albert Anastasia, and Joe Adonis in 1931.
 * Harry Millman, gang leader and former Purple Gang member, killed by Harry Strauss and Harry Maione.
 * Nativo da Natividade de Oliveira, a well-known union leader from the Center-West of Brazil (who was originally a rural worker), he was one of the 492 people who were killed by the notorious Brazilian hitman Julio Santana (criminal).
 * Dion O'Banion, Irish mob boss of Chicago's North Side Gang, whose 1924 assassination by Frankie Yale, John Scalise, and Albert Anselmi touched off almost a decade of gangland warfare.
 * Maria Lúcia Petit, a teacher, far-left militant, and communist guerrilla, was a member of the Communist Party of Brazil (PCdoB) and the Guerrilha do Araguaia. She was one of the 492 people who were killed by the notorious Brazilian hitman Julio Santana (criminal) (as well as Nativo da Natividade).
 * Shiori Ino, a 21-year-old university student, who was stabbed to death in 1999. Hitman had been hired by Ino's abusive ex-boyfriend (who committed suicide before he could be apprehended) and the ex-boyfriend's brother, who was sentenced to life imprisonment.
 * Alexander Solonik, was strangled to death by Russian hitman and ex-Marine Alexander Pustovalov in his villa in 1997.
 * Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel, Las Vegas mob boss killed by unknown assailants in 1947.
 * Barry Seal, American airline pilot and undercover CIA informer, who became a major drug smuggler for the Medellín Cartel.
 * Brian Stidham, a pediatric ophthalmologist who was killed in a murder-for-hire plot by his colleague, Bradley Schwartz.
 * Grady Stiles, a freak show performer whose family hired a hitman to kill due to his abusiveness.
 * John H. Wood Jr., an American Federal judge known as "Maximum John" for giving severe prison sentences for drug offenses, murdered by Charles Harrelson at the behest of Lebanese-American drug lord Jamiel Chagra.

Employers

 * Dana Ewell, convicted of hiring his college roommate to murder Ewell's mother, father, and sister for the US$8,000,000 estate.
 * John Gotti, Italian-American crime boss, hired hitmen to murder Paul Castellano outside of Sparks Steak House in December 1985.
 * Robert Fratta, ex-police officer, hired two men to kill his wife.
 * Lawrence Horn, record producer whose hiring of a hitman led to the case Rice v. Paladin Press
 * Mike Danton, former NHL player, hired an undercover federal agent to kill his sports agent.
 * Wanda Holloway hired a hitman to kill the mother of her daughter's cheerleading rival, inspiring a film.
 * Silas Jayne, Chicago-area stable owner, was convicted in 1973 of hiring hitmen to murder his half-brother George.
 * Tim Lambesis, heavy metal vocalist who attempted to hire an undercover police officer to murder his wife.
 * Charlotte Karin Lindström, Swedish waitress/model who attempted to hire a hitman to kill persons testifying against her boyfriend in a drug trial in Australia.
 * Charles "Lucky" Luciano, American Mafia and Luciano crime family boss. Ordered Siegel, Tannenbaum, Genovese, Buchalter, Carbo, and Krakower to murder Mustache Petes Joe Masseria and Sal Maranzano in 1931, and stool pigeon Harry Greenberg in 1939.
 * Joseph Maldonado-Passage (better known by his stage name Joe Exotic), an American zoo owner who attempted to hire an undercover FBI agent to murder a rival, the CEO of Big Cat Rescue (with whom he had a long-running and public feud).
 * Diana Lovejoy, a technical writer, and her gun instructor Weldon McDavid were convicted of conspiracy to commit murder of Lovejoy's husband in 2016.
 * Jennifer Pan, a Vietnamese-Canadian woman who hired three men to stage a home invasion in order to assassinate her parents in retaliation for decades of tiger parenting in 2010.
 * Nicole Doucet Ryan attempted to hire an undercover Royal Canadian Mounted Police officer to kill her husband. After ruling that she could not use the defense of duress, the Supreme Court of Canada ordered she could not be retried.
 * Pamela Smart hired teenage lover Billy Flynn and his friends to murder her husband.
 * Thomas Bartlett Whitaker, an American man who hired people to attack his parents and brother in a home invasion in 2003.
 * Flordelis dos Santos de Souza, former Brazilian congresswoman, convicted of the murder of her husband, pastor Anderson do Carmo.
 * Anthony Ler, a Singaporean who hired a 15-year-old student in 2001 to murder his wife with promises of money and sex, as well as manipulation and death threats.
 * María del Pilar Pérez, a Chilean architect who hired a hitman to kill her husband (who had come out as gay), his boyfriend, and her niece's boyfriend.

title: Contract killing


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Red Spider Nebula

The Red Spider Nebula (also catalogued as NGC 6537) is a planetary nebula located near the heart of the Milky Way, in the northwest of the constellation Sagittarius. The nebula has a prominent two-lobed shape, possibly due to a binary companion or magnetic fields and has an S-shaped symmetry of the lobes – the lobes opposite each other appear similar. This is believed to be due to the presence of a companion to the central white dwarf. However, the gas walls of the two lobed structures are not at all smooth, but rather are rippled in a complex way.

The central white dwarf, the remaining compact core of the original star, produces a powerful and hot (≈10,000 K) wind blowing with a speed of 300 kilometers per second, which has generated waves 100 billion kilometres high. The waves are generated by supersonic shocks formed when the local gas is compressed and heated in front of the rapidly expanding lobes. Atoms caught in the shocks radiate a visible light. These winds are what give this nebula its unique 'spider' shape and also contribute to the expansion of the nebula.

The star at the center of the Red Spider Nebula is surrounded by a dust shell making its exact properties hard to determine. Its surface temperature is probably 150,000–250,000 K, although a temperature of 340,000 K or even 500,000 K is not ruled out, making it among the hottest white dwarf stars known.

The Red Spider Nebula lies near the constellation of Sagittarius. Its distance has been variously estimated as 1,900 light-years or, more likely, 3,000–8,000 light-years.

title: Red Spider Nebula


text:
Cat's Eye Nebula

The Cat's Eye Nebula (also known as NGC 6543 and Caldwell 6) is a planetary nebula in the northern constellation of Draco, discovered by William Herschel on February 15, 1786. It was the first planetary nebula whose spectrum was investigated by the English amateur astronomer William Huggins, demonstrating that planetary nebulae were gaseous and not stellar in nature. Structurally, the object has had high-resolution images by the Hubble Space Telescope revealing knots, jets, bubbles and complex arcs, being illuminated by the central hot planetary nebula nucleus (PNN). It is a well-studied object that has been observed from radio to X-ray wavelengths.

General information
NGC 6543 is a high northern declination deep-sky object. It has the combined magnitude of 8.1, with high surface brightness. Its small bright inner nebula subtends an average of 16.1 arcsec, with the outer prominent condensations about 25 arcsec. Deep images reveal an extended halo about 300 arcsec or 5 arcminutes across, that was once ejected by the central progenitor star during its red giant phase.

NGC 6543 is 4.4 minutes of arc from the current position of the north ecliptic pole, less than $3.3 kly$ of the 45 arcminutes between Polaris and the current location of the Earth's northern axis of rotation. It is a convenient and accurate marker for the axis of rotation of the Earth's ecliptic, around which the celestial North Pole rotates. It is also a good marker for the nearby "invariable" axis of the solar system, which is the center of the circles which every planet's north pole, and the north pole of every planet's orbit, make in the sky. Since motion in the sky of the ecliptic pole is very slow compared to the motion of the Earth's north pole, its position as an ecliptic pole station marker is essentially permanent on the time-scale of human history, as opposed to the pole star, which changes every few thousand years.

Observations show the bright nebulosity has temperatures between $1 kpc$ and $-0.2$, whose densities average of about $0.2$ particles per cubic centimetre. Its outer halo has the higher temperature around $1/10$, but is of much lower density. Velocity of the fast stellar wind is about $7,000$, where spectroscopic analysis shows the current rate of mass loss averages $9,000 K$ solar masses per year, equivalent to twenty trillion tons per second (20 Eg/s).

Surface temperature for the central PNN is about $5,000$, being 10,000 times as luminous as the sun. Stellar classification is O7 + [WR]-type star. Calculations suggest the PNN is over one solar mass, from a theoretical initial 5 solar masses. The central Wolf–Rayet star has a radius of (452,000 km). The Cat's Eye Nebula, given in some sources, lies about three thousand light-years from Earth.

Observations
The Cat's Eye was the first planetary nebula to be observed with a spectroscope by William Huggins on August 29, 1864. Huggins' observations revealed that the nebula's spectrum was non-continuous and made of a few bright emission lines, first indication that planetary nebulae consist of tenuous ionised gas. Spectroscopic observations at these wavelengths are used in abundance determinations, while images at these wavelengths have been used to reveal the intricate structure of the nebula.

Infrared observations
Observations of NGC 6543 at far-infrared wavelengths (about 60 μm) reveal the presence of stellar dust at low temperatures. The dust is believed to have formed during the last phases of the progenitor star's life. It absorbs light from the central star and re-radiates it at infrared wavelengths. The spectrum of the infrared dust emission implies that the dust temperature is about 85 K, while the mass of the dust is estimated at $15,000 K$ solar masses.

Infrared emission also reveals the presence of un-ionised material such as molecular hydrogen (H2) and argon. In many planetary nebulae, molecular emission is greatest at larger distances from the star, where more material is un-ionised, but molecular hydrogen emission in NGC 6543 seems to be bright at the inner edge of its outer halo. This may be due to shock waves exciting the H2 as ejecta moving at different speeds collide. The overall appearance of the Cat's Eye Nebula in infrared (wavelengths 2–8 μm) is similar in visible light.

Optical and ultraviolet observations
The Hubble Space Telescope image produced here is in false colour, designed to highlight regions of high and low ionisation. Three images were taken, in filters isolating the light emitted by singly ionised hydrogen at 656.3 nm, singly ionised nitrogen at 658.4 nm and doubly ionised oxygen at 500.7 nm. The images were combined as red, green and blue channels respectively, although their true colours are red, red and green. The image reveals two "caps" of less ionised material at the edge of the nebula.

X-ray observations
In 2001, observations at X-ray wavelengths by the Chandra X-ray Observatory revealed the presence of extremely hot gas within NGC 6543 with the temperature of $1,900 km/s$. It is thought that the very hot gas results from the violent interaction of a fast stellar wind with material previously ejected. This interaction has hollowed out the inner bubble of the nebula. Chandra observations have also revealed a point source at the position of the central star. The spectrum of this source extends to the hard part of the X-ray spectrum, to 0.5–$3.2$. A star with the photospheric temperature of about $80,000 K$ would not be expected to emit strongly in hard X-rays, and so their presence is something of a mystery. It may suggest the presence of a high temperature accretion disk within a binary star system. The hard X-ray data remain intriguing more than ten years later: the Cat's Eye was included in a 2012 Chandra survey of 21 central stars of planetary nebulae (CSPNe) in the solar neighborhood, which found: "All but one of the X-ray point sources detected at CSPNe display X-ray spectra that are harder than expected from hot (~$6.4$) central star photospheres, possibly indicating a high frequency of binary companions to CSPNe. Other potential explanations include self-shocking winds or PN mass fallback."

Distance
Planetary nebulae distances like NGC 6543 are generally very inaccurate and not well known. Some recent Hubble Space Telescope observations of NGC 6543 taken several years apart determine its distance from the angular expansion rate of 3.457 milliarcseconds per year. Assuming a line of sight expansion velocity of 16.4 km·s−1, this implies that NGC 6543's distance is $1.7 K$ parsecs ($1 keV$ or $100,000 K$ light-years) away from Earth. Several other distance references, like what is quoted in SIMBAD in 2014 based on Stanghellini, L., et al. (2008) suggest the distance is $100,000 K$ parsecs ($1,001$ light-years).

Age
The angular expansion of the nebula can also be used to estimate its age. If it has been expanding at a constant rate of 10 milliarcseconds a year, then it would take $3 k$ to reach a diameter of 20 arcseconds. This may be an upper limit to the age, because ejected material will be slowed when it encounters material ejected from the star at earlier stages of its evolution, and the interstellar medium.

Composition

Like most astronomical objects, NGC 6543 consists mostly of hydrogen and helium, with heavier elements present in small quantities. The exact composition may be determined by spectroscopic studies. Abundances are generally expressed relative to hydrogen, the most abundant element.

Different studies generally find varying values for elemental abundances. This is often because spectrographs attached to telescopes do not collect all the light from objects being observed, instead gathering light from a slit or small aperture. Therefore, different observations may sample different parts of the nebula.

However, results for NGC 6543 broadly agree that, relative to hydrogen, the helium abundance is about 0.12, carbon and nitrogen abundances are both about $3,300$, and the oxygen abundance is about $1,623$. These are fairly typical abundances for planetary nebulae, with the carbon, nitrogen and oxygen abundances all larger than the values found for the sun, due to the effects of nucleosynthesis enriching the star's atmosphere in heavy elements before it is ejected as a planetary nebula.

Deep spectroscopic analysis of NGC 6543 may indicate that the nebula contains a small amount of material which is highly enriched in heavy elements; this is discussed below.

Kinematics and morphology
The Cat's Eye Nebula is structurally a very complex nebula, and the mechanism or mechanisms that have given rise to its complicated morphology are not well understood. The central bright part of the nebula consists of the inner elongated bubble (inner ellipse) filled with hot gas. It, in turn, is nested into a pair of larger spherical bubbles conjoined together along their waist. The waist is observed as the second larger ellipse lying perpendicular to the bubble with hot gas.

The structure of the bright portion of the nebula is primarily caused by the interaction of a fast stellar wind being emitted by the central PNN with the visible material ejected during the formation of the nebula. This interaction causes the emission of X-rays discussed above. The stellar wind, blowing with the velocity as high as $5,300$, has 'hollowed out' the inner bubble of the nebula, and appears to have burst the bubble at both ends.

It is also suspected that the central WR:+O7 spectral class PNN star, HD 164963 / BD +66 1066 / PPM 20679 of the nebula may be generated by a binary star. The existence of an accretion disk caused by mass transfer between the two components of the system may give rise to polar jets, which would interact with previously ejected material. Over time, the direction of the polar jets would vary due to precession.

Outside the bright inner portion of the nebula, there are a series of concentric rings, thought to have been ejected before the formation of the planetary nebula, while the star was on the asymptotic giant branch of the Hertzsprung–Russell diagram. These rings are very evenly spaced, suggesting that the mechanism responsible for their formation ejected them at very regular intervals and at very similar speeds. The total mass of the rings is about 0.1 solar masses. The pulsations that formed the rings probably started 15,000 years ago and ceased about $1,000 years$ years ago, when the formation of the bright central part began (see above).

Further, a large faint halo extends to large distances from the star. The halo again predates the formation of the main nebula. The mass of the halo is estimated as 0.26–0.92 solar masses.

title: Cat's Eye Nebula


text:
NGC 2346

NGC 2346 is a planetary nebula near the celestial equator in the constellation of Monoceros, less than a degree to the ESE of Delta Monocerotis. It is informally known as the Butterfly Nebula. The nebula is bright and conspicuous with a visual magnitude of 9.6, and has been extensively studied. Among its most remarkable characteristics is its unusually cool central star, which is a spectroscopic binary, and its unusual shape.

The nebular is bipolar in form, with modest outflow velocities in the range of 8–11 km/s, while the center is girded by an expanding belt of molecular gas. The electron density of the nebula is on the order of 400 per cubic centimeter. The ionization of the nebula is the result of ultraviolet emission from the binary companion. The stronger infrared emission from molecular emission is coming from the belt, which is expanding at the rate of $0.91 arcminute$. The mass of the molecular gas in the nebula is estimated to be in the range of 0.34–$16 km/s$, and is much greater than the mass of the ionized gas.

The central star is a binary star consisting of an A-type subgiant and a subdwarf O star. The system, which has an orbital period of $1.85 solar mass$ days, is also variable, probably due to dust in orbit around it. The dust itself is heated by the central star and so NGC 2346 is unusually bright in the infrared part of the spectrum. When one of the two stars evolved into a red giant, it engulfed its companion, which stripped away a ring of material from the larger star's atmosphere. When the red giant's core was exposed, a fast stellar wind inflated two ‘bubbles’ from either side of the ring.

title: NGC 2346